Legend of the Blue Witch
by tinytim12
Summary: A new game opens up on Rokkenjima, but this time, with Will in the player's seat and Bernkastel the game master.
1. Prologue

The smoke withdrew from his eyes, and he found himself in the fabled white hall of the witches. He heard many stories about this place. The legendary battleground for human against witch, the ultimate arena for the rational against the irrational, for the truth against the illusions. There was already a table, as white as marble, placed directly in front of him, as if beckoning him to sit. He walked forward cautiously, and took a seat. Despite the chair's sharp looking contours, he found it surprisingly comfortable. Another surreal factor in this crazy place.

He waited for a full minute, tapping his foot against the floor. The sound bounced off the lonely walls and returned to him untouched. It was silent, as silent as nothingness. He frowned. It was just like Bernkastel to keep him waiting. He sighed, and called out.

'I'm here,' his voice echoed around the halls. A few second later, a witch appeared in a cloud of blue, floating down gently to sit on the chair opposite him. And, just as he turned his gaze back to the table, he saw a chessboard that certainly wasn't there before lying quietly on the white.

'Willard H. Wright,' Bernkastel said, her voice perfectly flat.

'That's me. Why did you call me here?'

'Did you read what I sent you?' Bernkastel said, idly tugging at her blue hair. She wasn't even looking at him.

'Yeah. The games between Battler and Beatrice, right? I read them all.'

'And your opinion? Is it a mystery, or a fantasy?'

'I wouldn't know. I didn't have much time to think.'

'Aah, you're really disappointing, you know?' She finally bothered to slide her eyes towards him, briefly, and what he saw in them was dark and cold.

'Why did you call me here?' he repeated.

'Beato was being boring, you know? She had so much red at her disposal and she didn't even bother to use it...it's almost if that kid wants to lose. Things were getting dull, so, I took over her game for a bit.'

'Where's Battler?'

'Wandering somewhere in the seas of Oblivion,' Bernkastel gave a brief shrug. 'Or something like that. The last time I saw him, he was screaming and shouting, curved up in a little ball.' For the first time, something resembling a smile flickered across her face. 'He couldn't find the answer to my game, you know?'

Will had already figured things out. 'Battler gave up playing your game,' he said. 'And you want me to take over.'

'Of course. I'd be very, very interested if the great Willard H. Wright is as intelligent as he seems. So far, not so much.'

Will ignored the jibes, keeping his expression under control. 'It's the same game, right? Murders take place on Rokkenjima on October 4th and 5th, in 1986. Usually impossible murders, murders that seemingly can only be committed by a witch. And I try to find rational explanations for everything, and you try to deny me in red.'

'Correct,' Bernkastel said. 'But, it isn't exactly the same game.'

'Why so?'

'I told you before, Beato went easy on Battler. He took an anti fantasy stance, coming up with ridiculous explanations like small bombs, and Beato just took it all in without bothering to raise her red sword. What a stupid kid. I'm not such a pushover like her. I won't accept any answers unless they're a proper mystery.'

'Fair enough,' Will said. 'Is the culprit the same from the previous games?'

Bernkastel's eyes narrowed slightly. 'You know who the culprit is?'

'I think so. It's the servant called Yasu, right?'

If Bernkastel was surprised, she gave no sign. Instead she leaned forward slightly, putting her hands on the table. 'You're smarter than you look, Willard H. Wright.'

'Thanks.'

'I won't need to explain everything to you, then. I'll just give you the red up front now.'

And then she stared directly into Will's eyes. '**Red truth. There are two main differences between my game and Beato's previous games. Firstly, the culprit Yasu doesn't exist. Shannon and Kanon are considered seperate people.**'

'I see. So the culprit is a totally new person, right?'

Bernkastel ignored the insight. '**The second difference is that Kinzo Ushiromiya is alive at the starting point of this game.**'

'Got it,' Will nodded. 'Any other differences?'

'Sorry, but I'm a bit stingy with the red. You'll have to find that out on your own.'

'Hmph. You're a fussy witch aren't you?'

Her eyes seemed to grow bigger. 'You call me, a witch of the senate, fussy?'

'Yeah.'

She leaned forward further still, until her purple eyes filled Will's face. 'Know your place. You may be a High Inquisitor, but I am the Witch of Miracles. I could banish you to oblivion right now, and you'll be screaming along with Battler, without any hope for a miracle, you know...?'

'I know,' Will said, carefully measuring his voice. 'I'll play your game...mam.'

'That's better,' she was suddenly in her seat again. 'It's quite a hard game, but, **I guarantee that it is possible to see this tale as a proper mystery. **I'm interested to see if you can, Willard H. Wright.'

'Let's get started, then.'

Four sections of the wall around them, despite being sturdy as stone, burst into tiny little pieces of glass, forming four perfectly square windows which Will could see through into another world. He saw a island in the distance, planted firmly in the endless sea, growing nearer and nearer as a stern of a boat zoomed across the water.

'I'll start my game now,' Bernkastel said, and the faint smile played across her lips again. 'I've even given it my own name. Come, Willard H. Wright, let's see if you'll be able to solve _**The Legend of the Blue Witch**_.'


	2. Opening

'Waaaaaaaaaaaaarrrgghhhh!' Battler gripped the railing, holding on for dear life. 'Isn't this boat going a little too faaaaast?'

'I don't think so,' George observed, standing perfectly upright.

'Hey, George-aniki, how come you're standing so straight while I keep getting thrown- arooooound!'

'It's something called balance, Battler,' George chuckled. 'You can learn it in many martial arts classes.'

'No way!' Jessica grinned. 'Look at Maria, she's only six and she's in total control! It's only Battler who's such a complete wuss!'

'Uu - ! Battler's a wuss!'

'Shut up Jessica! I'm gonna grope yooooouuuuu!'

As the four young ones wrestled and chatted happily with each other, they failed to notice all the adults had disappeared from the deck, away from any young ears. Deep in the dark confines of the lower decks, the adults, Rudolf, Kyrie, Eva, Hideyoshi and Rosa cramped together in one space, ready to start their own family conference. Rudolf lit a cigarette, inhaled deeply, and began to speak.

'Put that out,' Eva snapped.

Rudolf smirked, and threw it out the window. He began again. 'Alright, ladies and gents, let's go over the plan one more time. Step One: Call out Big Bro on his poor stock decisions. If he slips by, move on to Step Two: Call him out on Grandfather's death - '

'You don't need to tell us,' Eva barked. 'You think we're stupid?'

'Well, not exactly, but some of us may be a little...far away,' he walked over to Rosa, sitting quietly in the corner, and playfully patted her head. 'Right, Little Sis?'

Rosa jerked his hand away in irritation. 'I'm paying attention.'

'I still think it's a bad idea to say Grandfather's already dead,' Eva huffed. 'There's a high chance he's still alive, and if he is, well...'

'Don't worry, he's deader than a doornail by now,' Rudolf grinned.

'And who decided that?'

'Erm, we did?'

'No, you did.'

'No,' Rudolf said, clapping his hand on his wife's shoulder, and she rewarded him with a rub on the back. 'The two of us did.'

'I think you're forgetting who's the eldest here,' Eva growled.

'So?' Rudolf said. Hideyoshi, seeing trouble looming, quickly stepped forward.

'It doesn't matter anyway if Grandfather's dead or not,' he said hastily. 'I mean, either way - '

'Dear, it does matter,' Eva said. 'You know Grandfather is. The illness is only making him worse. Next thing you know, he'll just leave the inheritance to some servant just to spite us.'

'Funnily enough, I agree with you, Big Sis. Wouldn't put it past Grandfather in any way. But a businessman's always got to take risks, right, hon?'

Kyrie rubbed his back again, and Rudolf allowed a contented smile to creep up on his face.

'I still think it's a bad idea,' Eva said sourly.

'I think it's a good one,' Rosa said quietly, and then winced as Eva shot a glare at her.

'A-anyway,' Hideyoshi said, in a transparent attempt to resolve the tension, 'There's no point talking about it now. Why don't we go upstairs to play with the kids?'

'Come on, Hideyoshi,' Rudolf began.

'We don't belong in their world,' Kyrie finished for him, her eyes glittering brightly. Hideyoshi rubbed his brow and said nothing. Rudolf took out another cigarette.

'I said put that out!' Eva shouted.

Rudolf ignored her, and went over to the window. He gazed at the island, approaching slowly, and took a deep puff. 'I don't know why I even come here anymore,' he muttered, almost to himself. 'I hate this place.'

He threw the unfinished cigarette into the water, and turned to face his siblings. 'Alright, get some rest. We'll need all the strength we can get.'

* * *

><p>'Woo-hoo, it's bigger than I remembered!'<p>

Battler grinned, skipping up the pathway like an excited child. Kumasawa, struggling to keep up with him, chuckled. 'Oho, you haven't changed since I last saw you, Master Battler.'

'I can't help it Granny, it's been years! It's all coming back to me, woo-hoo!'

'He's like a five year old,' Jessica sighed.

'Really? I think that's part of his charm. Oh? What's that, Maria?'

'Uu - ! That rose - it looks like it's dying!'

'That's unfortunate. Don't worry, we can make it get better. Here...'

Soon, they had reached the mansion, and Kumasawa opened the double doors for them. Battler immediately shot through, admiring every single corner of the mansion. 'Haha, all the memories are coming back! Right here is where I first tried to grope you, Jessica, remember - ?'

'Ahem.'

Genji was standing by the hall, as motionless as a statue. There was no way to tell if his cough had been accidental or intentional. It was hard to tell anything from him, as usual. He was as stiff and robotic as Battler had remembered.

'Welcome to Rokkenjima,' he said, bowing. 'Masters Battler, George and Maria.'

'Hey, thanks Genji.' Battler noticed a portrait hanging behind Genji. 'Wait, who's that? I haven't seen her before.'

'It was hung a year after you left, Master Battler.'

'Huh,' Battler looked at the person in the portrait. 'She's pretty cute.'

'She is the Witch of Rokkenjima,' Genji said, with a straight face.

'What?'

'Oho, that's right, Battler,' Kumasawa chimed in. 'She comes out at night, playing tricks on all the servants...'

'Stop that,' Jessica scowled. 'Can we see our rooms now?'

'Oho, of course, milady. Right this way.'

As they left the main hall Battler couldn't resist looking back at the girl in the portrait. She had a certain charm, a kind of cuteness that made her appearance instantly refreshing. It was a young girl in a white dress, about seven or eight, sitting delicately on a chair with her arms on her lap, smiling. Her hair, which streaked down her shoulders, was a bright, burning blue.

* * *

><p>'Hmph,' Will said, studying the portrait closely. 'So this is what else you changed.'<p>

'It's my game after all.' Bernkastel said. A cup of tea had appeared in her hand, and she sipped at it delicately, giving her an excuse not to look at him again. 'The witch of Rokkenjima should be my piece, not Beato's.'

'This could change a lot of things.'

'Yeah, but not much.'

'Who is this new girl in the portrait?'

'Isn't it your job to figure things out?'

'Then let me ask: is this portrait, or rather this new Witch of Rokkenjima, based on a person?'

'Yeah. **The girl in the portrait is based on a real person that actually existed.**'

'Is this person directly related to Kinzo Ushiromiya?'

Bernkastel licked at her tea slowly before opening her mouth to give an answer. 'I refuse to repeat that.'

'Then she isn't?'

'Maybe. I sometimes get bored answering useless questions, you know? Using the red just takes so much effort.'

'I don't like this,' Will growled. 'You've changed too much.'

'Hmm? What was that, piece?'

'Kinzo Ushiromiya's love for Beatrice was the one thing that made him human. You've gone and tarnished it. I don't like this.'

As soon as the words left his mouth he found himself, inexplicably, floating at the bottom of a dark sea. Cold water entered his lungs, suffocating him, and he thrashed uselessly against the frigid water. The pressure was crushing him, holding him in a chokehold, and then he found himself back at the table, soaking wet. Bernkastel hadn't even moved her tea cup.

'Did you have a nice swim?' she remarked lightly. Will fought to keep his face under control, and bit his tongue.

'Well, if you're really that concerned...' Bernkastel set the cup down and began picking at her fingernails. 'All of the Ushiromiya family are acting the same as in the previous games, aren't they? I just changed the name of the witch of Rokkenjima, okay? That's all.'

Will kept his mouth shut.

'No objections, then?'

Will shook his head.

'Then let's continue with the game.'

* * *

><p>'Shannon, your bosom's grown tons! Let me have a little squeeze, ihihihi...'<p>

Jessica knocked him into the ground. 'What kind of thing is that to say to a lady?'

'S-sorry...'

The color returned to Shannon's face. 'M-maybe next time, Master Battler, if milady isn't around...'

'I wonder if you'll ever grow up, Battler,' George said.

'And I wonder if you'll even propose to Shannon, George-aniki!'

George instantly turned a shade of white, and Shannon went even paler than before. 'W-what do you mean?'

'Come on! It's obvious!' Battler grinned. 'Jessica told me everything!'

'N-no-no, not everything,' Jessica stammered. 'Well, I mean, I gave a few hints.'

Battler's grin grew wider. 'And you, Jessica!' he cried, thrusting a finger at her. 'You've got a thing for that new servant Kanon, right?'

'W-what?'

Battler's smile was intolerable, and Jessica wiped it off by slamming a fist into his head. Battler went down again, gasping.

'Hey, what's all the ruckus about?'

Rudolf appeared, wiping a lock of hair from his forehead. He stopped dead when he saw Shannon. 'My, my, Shannon, you've grown quite a bit, haven't you?'

'Y-yes, Master Rudolf...'

'And I have found just the person to serve tea tonight during our conference. Kumasawa was supposed to do it, originally, but her face, is like, you know...?'

'Uncle Rudolf,' George said. 'I invited Shannon and her brother to play cards with us tonight.'

Rudolf waved his hand, 'Nice save, George. You're a charming young man, you know that?'

'What - '

'What's all this about, old man?' Battler asked warily. Although Rudolf had already apologised and Battler had since re-entered into the family, there was still a level of frostiness between them that would take more than a year to cool.

'Oh, well, I was looking out the window, and I saw what a fine day it was, with the waves and everything. So I was gonna suggest that you kids go out there and frolic on the beach for a while.'

'Uu - !' Maria smiled. 'Maria wants to go to the beach, uu - !'

'Of course,' Jessica smacked her head. 'That's what we do everytime. How could we forget it?'

'Shannon, you come too,' George. 'And bring Kanon along. I'm sure he needs some company.'

'Thank you, Master George.'

One by one, the young ones chattered out of the room, Battler being the last to leave He fired one last parting shot at Jessica and then turned to face his father. Rudolf was already walking away, holding something to his face.

'Hey, old man!' Battler called out. 'Are you smoking!'

'Gar - argh,' Rudolf stuffed the cigarette back inside his pocket. 'Can't even have a little smoke to myself, huh?'

'You're not supposed to smoke inside the mansion!'

'It was just a small one. No one would know.'

'Yeah, yeah,' Battler scratched his head. 'Anyway, what was that all about? I thought you and the others were discussing something downstairs.'

'Yup. Well, things got so fired up we decided to take a break. And I went here. On a whim, I guess,' Rudolf shrugged.

'That bad, huh?'

'What?'

Battler bit his tongue. He had long since suspected that the family conference wasn't all roses, judging from the expressions his parents had when they had trudged out of the dining hall. Eyes downcast, sweat shining on their foreheads, and a slow, slouching gait. And yet, he didn't want to say anything more, unwilling to cross the icy barrier that stood between them.

'Heh,' Rudolf grinned, and patted his son's head.

'H-hey! Old man, I'm not a kid anymore!'

'I don't know about that, Battler. Well, it's been fun seeing you guys. See you later.'

He started to walk away.

'Hey, old man!'

Rudolf turned.

'You - ' Battler looked away awkwardly. 'You - take care of yourself, okay?'

'And you'd better not smoke,' Rudolf called back. 'Kills the lungs.' He gave one final wave, and then resumed his long walk back to the sitting room, where his simmering siblings were waiting. As he did, he looked out the window, and saw five young people running along the coastline, their figures shimmering brightly in the sunshine.

'Heh,' he said to himself, rolling an unlit igarette between his fingers. 'Well, that's one thing which keeps me from jumping off this bloody island.'


	3. The First Time, You Love Them

'Wahahaha! Straight flush!'

Battler smacked the cards onto the table, triggering cries of dismay and shock. Everyone scowled and tossed their worthless cards onto the table, except for Kanon. He clutched the cards tightly in his hand, a vacant expression on his face.

'Eh, Kanon,' Battler grinned at him. 'Do you know how to play yet? You seem unsure - '

Kanon laid the cards gently on the table, spreading them out. 'If I am not wrong, Master Battler, doesn't this beat a straight flush...?'

'Whaaaaat? A full house!' Battler nearly fell off his seat. 'You - you had a full house? Gaaargh!'

'Kanon has an excellent poker face,' Jessica giggled.

'Yes, milady,' Kanon said, and smiled a little.

'Damn it, if Kanon's this hard, I wonder what'll it be like playing cards with Genji?'

'Oh my god,' Jessica gasped, curling up in laughter.

'I'm sure even Genji isn't completely inpenetratable,' George said, shuffling the cards. 'Every human is still human, after all. I'm sure he has another way of showing his emotions.'

'Yeah. Hey, Kanon, Shannon, does Genji have a wife or a family or something?'

'Not that we know of...' Shannon said. 'He doesn't talk about his personal life at all.'

'He thinks he's just funiture...' Kanon said, looking down.

'Aw, come on! I heard from Kumasawa a few minutes ago that he used to be the son of a Yakuza Chief or something!'

'Huuuh?' Jessica cried. 'How can a Yakuza guy be that stoic?'

'Maybe he had some life changing experience or something,' Battler shrugged, and the others laughed at him. Battler grinned ruefully. The overhanging shadow of the family conference had disappeared from his mind. 'Hey, what about Gohda?'

'What about him?'

'He always seemed so...I dunno, cocky.'

'He seeks to bear the mark of the one-winged eagle,' Kanon growled. 'But yet, he's so incompetent, and he thinks that - '

He suddenly shut his mouth, as if it was heresy to speak ill of another servant in the Ushiromiya family. Battler reached forward and threw an arm around him.

'Come on, we're friends here! Say what you like, we won't tell!'

Kanon smiled uncertainly. 'Gohda's an idiot.'

'See? Felt better when you said it, right?'

'Yeah...'

'If you keep all your worries and pain to yourself, Kanon,' George said, starting to deal the cards again, 'you won't end up with a healthy mind.'

'I know,' Shannon said. 'That's why I'm always be there to provide a shoulder for my brother to lean on.'

'That's what big sisters are for,' George beamed.

'Out of all the servants here,' Battler said, already steamrolling into the next topic, 'the one I like the most, besides you guys, of course, is Kumasawa. She's just so motherly and yet so mischievous at the same time! She'd make an awesome grandma!'

'Kumasawa is like a mother to us,' Shannon said. 'And, Genji, like our father. If we had to have a grandfather, though, it would be Dr. Nanjo.'

'Nanjo? Who's that?'

'The Master's physician. He comes here sometimes, and he's here today.'

'He treats us well,' Kanon said.

'Like a family,' Shannon added.

'Wow, I thought you were loners, but you do have a family after all,' Battler cackled. Then he stopped. The smile slowly disappeared as he began to recall his father's face.

'Ready to start the next round?' George said, picking up his cards. 'Battler? Are you alright?'

Battler looked away. He wondered what the adults downstairs were doing. He suddenly felt uncomfortable sitting in the warm light of his cousins, while the adults were tearing out each other's throats just a few meters below. He stood up.

'Battler? Where are you going?'

'Well, I just want to take a walk around for a bit. Start without me,' Battler forced a smile onto his face. 'See you later, okay?'

He walked out, back into the dark corridors of the guesthouse. The adults traditionally held their conference in the dining room at the mansion, and Battler started to head there, lost in the throes of his own imagination. He didn't know what exactly he would find when he listened in on the conference. He just wanted to know how bad it was.

'E-excuse me, Master George, is this any good?'

'What the - '

'Well done, Shannon It's a four of a kind.'

'Is that good?'

Their laughter stung his ears. Every instinct was screaming for him to go back into the cousin's room. He ignored them, and walked downstairs, his back slightly bent.

Their shouting could already be heard from the rose garden. Battler hesitated, gripping the railing, and then entered the mansion. He found the dining room, and trained his eyes on the double doors. Even as he watched the shouting got nearer and nearer, as the discussion moved closer to the door. It wasn't shouting now. It was screaming.

Then the doors burst open and Aunt Natsuhi stumbled out. Tears were gushing down her face. Battler froze, trying to process the sight. His Aunt Natsuhi had always been a stiff and regal woman, it seemed unreal for such a upright woman to be sobbing all over the walls in front of him. She dashed up the staircase, saw him, and her face instantly flushed red.

He didn't like the way she reacted to him. 'Erm, Aunt Natsuhi are you - '

She dashed past him without saying a word, thundering up to her room.

'You maid servant!' Eva screeched from inside, her face a terrible mask. Then the doors swung shut again, allowing Battler a brief moment of peace. His legs shaking slightly, he completed the rest of the journey through the hall, and came to an abrupt halt in front of the doors. The words from inside the dining room were audible enough. He heard Krauss bellowing like an angry bull, Eva throwing insults like daggers, Hideyoshi roaring in desperation, but worst of all, he could discern his father's strained voice try uselessly to restore order.

'Master Battler, what are you doing?'

Battler turned to see Kumasawa. She looked graver than he had ever seen her before. His expression told her everything.

'You're not supposed to be here,' Kumasawa said. 'Why don't we leave this horrible place for a while? I'll make you some tea.'

Battler nodded weakly, and turned to follow her. The shouts slowly faded out of hearing range, thankfully, but two things could not be erased from his mind. The terrible, desperate expression on Natsuhi's face, and the way Aunt Eva smiled when she had kicked Natsuhi out of the room, a wide, emotionless grin that stretched from ear to ear.

* * *

><p>The conference had grounded to a halt after Natsuhi's - and Eva's - outburst. Everyone, briefly shocked, had weakly continued their argument until it had become apparent that they needed room to recover. Rudolf found himself strolling near the outskirts of the mansion, where he had a decent view of the guesthouse. He lit a cigarette and put it to his mouth. Krauss had refused to let them see Grandfather, claiming he was in a bad mood - and it was a pretty believable lie. So they had resorted to harping on Krauss's empty bank accounts, a pint that had been hammered into the ground for so long Rudolf needed a break. He wiped the sweat from his brow and leaned against the window.<p>

He heard a footstep. 'Fancy seeing you here, Rudolf.'

It was Hideyoshi. Rudolf glanced at him in annoyance. 'Go away. I picked this spot.'

'Actually, it's my spot. I've been using it for the past few years, didn't ya know?'

'Well, let's share then.'

Hideyoshi drew next to him. 'Thought you'd be with Kyrie.'

'Yeah, well, don't get me wrong, Kyrie's a great gal, but she's a little...too vixeny, y'know?"

Hideyoshi chuckled. 'I know what ya mean.'

They stared out into the rose garden together, Rudolf's smoke slowly wafted up towards the ceiling.

'Hey, Hideyoshi.'

'Yeah?'

'You're a really nice guy, you know that?'

'Thanks.'

'Why did you ever decide to marry in with this crappy family?'

Hideyoshi stared at him. Rudolf continued to glare at the roses outside. 'I've alwasy wondered that. You don't seem like the type to get involved in this mess.'

'Whaddaya mean? This family is fine.'

Rudolf took out the cigeratte, and pressed it down on the windowsill, hard. 'Krauss hates all of us. Natsuhi hates Eva. Kyrie hates my son. Eva hates basically everyone. I think Grandfather wants to murder the whole family. Even timid little Rosa isn't akin to slapping Maria sometimes.' He dug the cigarette in deeper, as if he believed he could thrust it right through the ground. 'Some happy family.'

'Eva doesn't hate everyone,' Hideyoshi said softly.

'You're right. She adores you, doesn't she?'

'Only because I adore her,' Hideyoshi stood up straight. 'Ya see, Eva and me, we're a perfect match for each other. What one doesn't have, the other does. That's why I married into this family.'

'Huh?' Rudolf stared at him. 'The only reason you're here is because of Eva?'

'Yeah. We're joined at the hip, and there ain't nothing that's gonna change that.'

'What a crappy reason. You married in because of love?'

'Ain't that what's marriage supposed to be in the first place?'

'And thus winged cupid is painted blind,' Rudolf quoted, tossing what was left of his cigarette into the roses. 'Idiocy aside, you're really, and I mean really, quite some guy, Hideyoshi.'

'Don't ya forget it!' Hideyoshi grinned weakly, at an attempt at humour. 'You're not too bad yourself. You and Kyrie make a great couple. You two married for love too, right?'

'I'm touched,' Rudolf smirked. 'But please, let's stop. Wouldn't want to lose our mood.'

'I haven't lost mine since the beginning.'

'Yeah, right,' Rudolf threw an arm over Hideyoshi's shoulder, and the two of them walked back to the dining hall, arm in arm. 'Where there's love, there's hate, remember? Wouldn't want to forget that adage - '

A gale of mad laughter cut off his words.

It descended on them from above, like a disembodied voice, bellowing and thundering across the hall and echoing through the rest of the mansion. It was a sound of pleasure, purely animal. Both men stopped in their tracks immediately. Rudolf was the first to recover.

'The hell was that?' he demanded.

'It sounded like it was coming from upstairs.'

'Come to think of it,' Rudolf felt another urge to reach for a cigarette. 'Laughing like a madman...is something I wouldn't put past Grandfather.'

The laughter continued, almost drowning out their words. Almost when it seemed like it would never end, it started to subside, although reluctantly, and finally the haunted sound fell silent, throwing the mansion into stillness once more.

'Well he's happy about something,' Rudolf groaned.

'I guess that means Grandfather is alive after all.'

'Yup. Fuck it. This island keeps getting better and better.'

* * *

><p>Battler finished the tea. It was warm enough, but the taste had completely flown past him. Kumasawa had been silent all the while, but he could sense her watching him with worried eyes.<p>

Then they both heard the laughter. Kumasawa stood up straight at once, as if the hairs on her back were standing on end.

'What was that?' Battler muttered. It was more automatic than genuinely curious.

'The Master...' Kumasawa shook her head sadly. 'He's been...sick for a while, and, his mind's not very healthy nowadays...'

He stood up. 'Thanks for the tea, Granny.'

'Are you feeling alright?' she said at once.

'Yeah. I just need to think things through a little.' A wave of exhaustion had struck him, and he wanted to sleep and forget. It was already late, after all - the clock showed it was ten o' clock. Without waiting for any parting words from Kumasawa he wandered back into the hall.

The doors to the dining hall opened in front of him and Hideyoshi and Eva strolled out, dark looks on their faces. Hideyoshi instantly brightened when he saw Battler looking at them. 'Battler! What're ya doing around the mansion this late?'

'Er, taking a walk, I guess.'

'You'd better not sleep too late,' Eva smiled at him. Battler imagined that smile morphing into a monstrous grin of triumph, and looked away uncomfortably.

'Where are you two going? Isn't the conference still going on?'

'It's clear we're at a deadlock, and we're a bit tired for the night,' Eva said. 'So we're going up to bed.'

'You didn't eavesdrop on anything, did you?' Hideyoshi said, his smile dropping a little.

'What were you guys talking about?'

'Oh, just some business deals,' Eva waved her hand in an offhand manner. Then she put it to her mouth and yawned softly.

'Well, Battler, we'd better get a move on. Eva's beat. See you in the morning.'

Battler watched them go, Hideyoshi's hand around his wife's waist.

He felt faintly sick.

He staggered though the hall, not paying attention to where he was going. Eva's flashed from alternatively warm to savage in his mind. And he didn't even want to imagine how Hideyoshi looked like when he was angry. Lost in thought, he suddenly found himself in front of the portrait.

In front of the young girl with blue hair.

There was some kind of plaque beneath the portrait, but Battler didn't notice it. His eyes were drawn to the girl. She gazed down at him kindly from above, smiling in perfect contentment. That smile, at least, was definitely real. He couldn't keep his eyes off her.

'You look happy,' he said to the girl. 'You've got a nice father, and some fun little brothers and sisters, right?'

Her smile was an answer enough.

'And you're also a witch, huh?' Battler said. 'Can you do magic? Perhaps you could work some magic into our family. Cheer things up a little. That's all.'

He immediately felt silly. Witches and magic didn't exist, of course, and the girl didn't exist anywhere beyond her soft little world in the portrait. He turned away, and started towards the front door. He realised the long walk back towards the guesthouse had turned unappealing. His legs felt like stumps and his eyes were heavy. He needed to rest for a while.

He wandered past the dining hall, ignored the raised voices, and entered the kitchen. Kumasawa had already gone, and the empty tea cup was already tucked away cleaned in the drawer. Battler threw himself onto the sofa, and stared up at the ceiling, thinking. Before he even knew it, he didn't want to think anymore, and he fell asleep.

* * *

><p>'This game seems especially cruel,' Will said.<p>

'You think so?' Bernkastel murmured. 'It still seems a bit boring, though. I'm only showing Battler some human biology - just showing him all the unpleasant-looking guts of a human being. You can't get more boring than that, you know...?'

Then she smiled. 'It'll get a bit more interesting from now on.'

Will looked at the clock. 'It's almost eleven. In less than two hours the first twilight will begin, right?'

'Six people will be murdered,' Bernkastel grinned. 'Inside perfectly closed rooms. The crime will be impossible for a human, which only leaves the Blue Witch.'

'Is that what you call the new Beatrice? The Blue Witch?'

'She'll terrorise the survivors, strike fear into their hearts, drive them crazy, and that's when all their guts will spill out into lovely patterns, you know...?'

'There's no need for any terror,' Will said. 'You've already said the culprit was human.'

'Yeah, but only if you can prove it. Can you, Willard H. Wright?'

'Start the first twilight.'

'I will,' Bernkastel's eyes lit up, and Will realised with disgust that it was the first time she had shown any form of emotion. 'Now it's the 5th of October, 1986. I wonder what Battler will find when he wakes up...'


	4. Offer Up The Six

When Battler finally woke up, it took a while before he realised where he was. He glanced at the clock. It was six am. He had fallen asleep on the sofa.

His back ached. He slid off his makeshift bed and stumbled out of the kitchen. The first rays of sunlight were peeking through the windows, but the mansion was silent. It was too early in the morning for anyone to be walking around. Battler rubbed his eyes, patted down his messy hair, and went out. He faintly knew he was going to the guesthouse, but his mind was on the events of the previous night.

As he passed through the rose garden, he saw Genji. The manservant looked up from his bushes, and turned to greet Battler. 'Good morning, Master Battler.'

'Morning, Genji,' said Battler hollowly. If Genji was surprised at the sight of Battler wandering around in the rose garden early in the morning, he didn't show it, as usual. He bent back to his bushes as Battler continued towards the guesthouse. A movement in the mansion caught his eye, and he looked up to see Eva and Hideyoshi in one of the upper windows, wrapped up in each other's arms and looking at the sunrise together. Battler immediately looked down, and continued forward.

Ascending the stairs seemed harder than usual. The thought of facing his cousins again somehow raised feelings of guilt and shame in Battler's stomach, and he didn't know why. On a whim, he punched the side of the banister, but it didn't help. By the time he reached the cousins's room, he was in a bad mood.

They were probably still sleeping. Knowing this, Battler grasped the door gently, and pushed it forward.

The door jerked to a stop, nearly throwing Battler off balance.

He stared at the door, startled. He pulled back the door and pushed it forward again. The door halted, as if hitting an invisible barrier.

Battler peered through the gap the door managed to make. It was tiny, impossible for him to squeeze through. Inside, the curtains were drawn and the lights were off, shrouding the room into an unnatural darkness. But Battler could still barely make out the glint of a golden chain, joining the door and the wall.

So George and the others had set the chain lock in their room. It didn't make sense, though, there were hardly any unwanted visitors on the island anyway. In any case, Battler couldn't enter the room. He didn't want to wake the others inside, either. In the end he just closed the door. It looked like he would have to tough it outside from now on. Half of him was actually relieved.

He needed to be alone. He needed more time to think. He stuck his hands inside his pockets and went back outside.

* * *

><p>Rudolf slowly awoke. His back was aching. He opened his eyes, and found himself sprawled across the dining table. He sat up, blinking, confused. Krauss, Kyrie and Rosa sat on both sides of the table, all fast asleep.<p>

Rudolf tried to remember what had happened the previous night. After Natsuhi, Hideyoshi, and Eva had been taken out of comission, it had only been the four of them. At about twelve midnight, Rosa wanted to leave as well, but Rudolf needed more manpower, and he had forced her to stay. So Rosa had simply gone to sleep on the table while the others continued arguing. Then at about one Kyrie had dropped off as well, and Krauss had left to get a drink. At that point, Rudolf remembered nothing more, and figured he must have fallen asleep as well. When Krauss had returned, he must have found the three of them sleeping peacefully, and took a few winks of his own as well.

Rudolf stood up, stretched, and walked over to Kyrie. She seemed oddly peaceful with her eyes closed. He shook her gently, and the first thing she did when she woke up was to kiss him lightly on the cheek.

'What a wake-up call,' she murmured.

'Yeah,' Rudolf said nervously. Despite all Kyrie's good points, and despite the fact that Rudolf did accept he was lucky to have a wife like her, there were certain times where he had felt uncomfortable with his new wife. There was a kind of darkness circling around her, and also a kind of unhealthy obession that bothered him more often than not. He quickly shook it from his system.

'So what did I miss?' Kyrie said, rubbing her eyes.

'Nothing much, actually. Looks like we'll have to continue the conference today.' Rudolf walked over to Rosa, and patted her head. 'Wake up, Little Sis. You're drooling all over the table.'

Rosa opened her eyes and closed her mouth. 'Go away,' she muttered drowsily.

Krauss had already roused himself. 'We all fell asleep?' he grunted, stretching his arms.

'Yup. Since we're all awake now, why don't we continue?'

Rosa couldn't help but hide a small groan. Krauss smiled sheepishly. 'I think we all need a break, don't you think?'

'Alright. We'll resume the conference after lunch, everyone in agreement?'

Everyone nodded gratefully, rubbing their eyes and yawning.

'See you later, Big Bro,' Rudolf said, as he exited with Kyrie. He suddenly wondered what on earth had possessed him to say a goodbye to Krauss. He had always hated the arrogant bastard. Maybe it was the drowsiness.

'Do you think we gained any headway?' Kyrie asked, as they walked across the hall.

'Nope. Not a smite. We'll try again today, though.'

He stopped. The portrait of the Blue Witch had suddenly rose up from behind the staircase. In it's early years in the mansion, he hadn't especially noticed it often, but as the conferences grew more heated and as his voice grew more strained, he found the sight of that angelic looking girl like a beautiful sunset after a long and tiring day.

'She's still as cute as ever,' he said, walking up to the portrait. 'A little older, and I would have hung this up in my bathroom - I'm joking,' he added hastily at Kyrie's sudden glare.

As Kyrie's expression smoothened, Rudolf walked over to the plaque. The epitaph was as exactly as he remembered. 'Hey, Kyrie, you solved this yet?'

'No,' she admitted. 'If it's even a riddle, it's a good one. The thing is, I don't really have time to access resources concerning Ushiromiya family history, so...'

'I think it's just a big trick played by Grandfather anyway,' Rudolf shrugged. 'Gruesome stuff like "Gouge the head and kill" - right up his alley for a halloween prank. Though I can't imagine a sweet thing like that,' he glanced once more at the blue girl, 'gouging anyone with anything.'

'I don't really care. Actually solving the riddle is the main attraction, right?'

Rudolf was suddenly reminded of Kyrie's good points. He chuckled and put an arm over her waist. 'Well, I've got a riddle for you. How many times can you - '

'You were going to say something dirty, weren't you?'

'...no.'

Kyrie smirked, remembering her husband's own good points. 'Let's continue this discussion in bed, shall we?'

* * *

><p>Will held the epitaph in his hands, studying it closely. In front of him, Bernkastel tapped her fingers impatiently. 'Are you done yet?'<p>

'Yeah,' Will said, tossing the epitaph behind him, where it slipped into a space-tear and vanished completely. 'It's exactly the same. Word for word, except that you replaced the words 'Beatrice' with 'Blue Witch'.'

'I told you already, didn't I? Not much has changed.'

'Something has. The hidden gold. The way Rudolf and Kyrie were talking, I don't think they, or anyone else in this Fragment, know the existence of the legend of the hidden gold. Which brings up another question: does the hidden gold exist in this game?'

'No. **Hidden gold of any sort does not exist in this game.**'

'But the riddle still remains,' Will pinched his chin, deep in thought. 'So that means someone still wants something to be found.'

'Stop wondering about that, already,' Bernkastel frowned. 'It doesn't matter.'

'Hmph,' Will glared at her. 'Well, if you're so eager to get on with the first twilight and all the bloody murders...'

'How astute, Wright,' she flashed one of her rare grins. 'You're smarter than you look.'

* * *

><p>By the time Battler returned to the rose garden, Genji had gone. He stuck his hands in his pockets, walking vaguely along the path, not knowing where he was going. A dozen thoughts rose in his mind and cancelled each other out. Things today had been so, so confusing.<p>

He heard running footsteps, and turned. Genji was jogging up the path, something heavy packed in his hands. It was a massive pair of bolt cutters, their edges gleaming wickedly in the dim sunlight.

'What the - ?' Battler stopped in his tracks. The bolt cutters in itself were ununsual, but he was more concerned with the fact that Genji was actually running. With sweat on his face. And his eyes, so very slightly, opened wider.

'What's going on?' Battler called.

'Master Krauss - ,' Genji gasped out as he jogged past Battler. 'Lady Natsuhi's room - '

Then he was gone, breezing past Battler like a silent ghost. Frowning, Battler started after him.

Gohda appeared from behind a bush. 'Genji,' he beamed. 'I have prepared breakfast - '

Genji shot right past him. Taking Genji's unusual impoliteness into consideration, whatever it was, it was serious. Battler started to run.

They stopped in the corridor outside Natsuhi's room. Krauss was already there, and he was pacing up and down with his hands buried in his hair. He saw Genji and instantly rushed forward. 'Do it! Now!'

'What's going on?' Battler said.

Krauss looked at him in total confusion. 'What are you doing here?'

Battler looked at the door. It was slightly open, but couldn't be extended further, blocked by a chain, similar to the ones in the cousin's room. The chain was partially coated by a layer of red.

Battler was still wondering why someone would randomly want to paint the chain halfway like that, when he saw what was inside the room. Unlike the cousin's room, the curtain had been thrown back, bathing the room in sunlight, allowing the liquid on the floor to be clearly discerned. It was a blistering red and looked very much like blood.

'W-what the?' Battler jerked back.

'She's not answering,' Krauss gibbered to no one in particular. 'She's not answering and the door's locked and blood's everywhere.'

Genji stepped forward stiffly, and snagged the chain with the bolt cutters. He heaved down with all his might, and the chain slowly gave way, snapping only after Genji had put his entire weight against the chain. Genji stood back to recover himself for a brief second, than grasped the doorknob. He turned it open slowly, as if afraid to disturb whatever was inside.

As the door swung open, the river of blood grew longer and longer. Krauss went white. Battler stood in front of the room, perfectly rigid, trying to jam a dozen thoughts into his brain. There was blood everywhere - not only on the floor, but on the curtains, the overturned table - as if a bloody doll had been stumbling around the room.

Then they caught a view of Natsuhi. She was lying on the floor, eyes closed and a peaceful expression on her face. One arm was stretched out towards her desk, where the phone lay. She might have just trying to call somebody before she had fallen into a content slumber, and could have been mistaken for having been fast asleep, except for the fact that her stomach was split open from side to side and her intestines were spilling out onto the floor.

Krauss wailed. That sound was more horrifying than Battler had ever imagined, even worse than the thunderstorm in the family conference. The conference, curiously, seemed to have been wiped from his mind. Who cared about such things, anyway? Who cared about damaged sibling love when Natsuhi was lying on the floor with her guys piled up on top of each other?

Standing in front of the gruesome body, he thought he would never see anything worse than this ever again.

Then another horrible sight rose in his mind. The cousin's room, with the chain, the cold, dark chain, sealing them off from the world.

'What's going on here?' Nanjo and Kumasawa rounded the corner, drawn by Krauss's cry of despair. Battler ignored them, and turned to Genji. 'Give me the bolt cutters,'

'Master Battler?'

'George and the others!' Battler nearly screamed. 'Their room - it had a chain!'

Genji understood. Together, he and Battler dashed through the corridor, just as Kumasawa caught sight of the body.

'Wha - what is thiiiiis? Aaaaiiieeee!'

They managed to reach the guesthouse in less than a minute. Genji, his clothes drenched with sweat, wordlessly located the cousin's room and caught the chain. It seemed to take agonizingly long for the metal links to break.

Battler found that all this would be surprisingly easy to be believed as a dream.

The chain snapped. Battler immediately kicked the door open, and rushed in. His flailing hand caught the light switch, seizing the room with light.

George, Jessica, and Maria were all curled up in their beds, sleeping. Battler stared at them, and breathed a sigh of relief. He staggered backwards against the wall for support.

His hand brushed against someone's shoulder. Battler turned to see Kanon sitting in a chair, his head tilted upwards. A thick gash, red as the evening sky, had opened up on his neck, and Battler thought he could see the white of bone.

Shannon was in the chair next to him, her neck similarily obliterated. As Genji stared at them, Battler rushed forward and threw himself onto George, scrambling to remove his blanket.

George's head was only half-connected to his body. His windpipe flopped around the bed like a dead fish.

Not daring to breathe, Battler turned to the others. Now that he had studied them more clearly, he could see a deep red stain on the blankets where their necks should have been. All five of them were dead, killed - perhaps only moments after Battler had left the room. The cards were still scattered around the table. Battler recognised, faintly, a four of a kind where Shannon was sitting.

'What the hell,' he whispered, wondering at his utter failure to express the horror of the situation. He sank to his knees, heedless to the hard wood striking his kneecaps. A thousand thoughts were swirling around in his head, some tiny, and some sharp as razors, but there was one thing that would haunt him for the rest of this day.

_They were all sealed in closed rooms with a chain._

_No one could have entered the rooms._

_How did they get killed?_

_How did the killer melt past the chain?_

_How?_


	5. Anti  Mystery

'Come, Wright,' Bernkastel said, her tail brushing against the floor. 'Start your explanations.'

Will didn't answer immediately. He was occupied with looking at the sad, hollow husk of Battler laid on the floor, quietly sobbing.

'Wright?' Bernkastel said, a little louder.' You don't feel like playing this game, then? Would you rather go for a swim? A longer one, this time?'

'This is a needlessly cruel story,' Will said, snapping his attention back to Bernkastel.

'All mysteries are supposed to be full of lovely disgusting guts. I think this one did pretty well on the first twilight, didn't it?'

She was goading him again. He didn't know how long he could hold. A simmering anger had been collecting into his heart, and he was aware it could blow over anytime.

'There are plenty of ways to deconstruct this locked room,' he said crisply. 'If you want to make this hard, you'd better give me some red.'

'Fine.' Bernkastel said, and then the whole hall lit up a blistering red. '**Six people - Natsuhi, George, Jessica, Maria, Shannon and Kanon were definitely killed on the first twilight. They did not commit suicide. All of them died within closed** **rooms!**'

The barrage of red continued without stopping. **'No method exists to set or unset the chain from outside. The chain works like any other normal chain lock, and has not been tampered with! Once the chain is set, it is impossible for any person - alive or dead - to enter the room from outside. The door is the only way in or** **out. Entrance and exit is impossible via any other means!**'

The red flew towards him in bright streams, circling him, and lifting him upwards. When he dropped back down, he found himself in Natsuhi's room, next to the bloody body. Even as he watched, the door slammed shut, and the chain slid sideways, locking into place with a click. He reached forward and grabbed the doorknob, and tried to pull. The chain yanked him back almost immediately, barring his exit.

'What's the matter?' Bernkastel's voice purred from the other side. 'You can't escape so easily now, can you? Unless, of course, you were the Blue Witch, then you could float through the door like you were air, you know...?'

**'**Stop that,' Will growled. The world shattered around him and he was back at the table. 'Actually killing them wouldn't be hard. But getting out while leaving the chain still set would be a hard one. So maybe, the culprit didn't leave the room in the first place. I'll use the blue truth. _For instance, in Natsuhi's room, after murdering her, the culprit set the chain and hid behind some drawers. After the others broke the chain, the culprit waited until everyone was gathered around Natsuhi's body, and then slipped out._'

'I knew you would try something like that,' Bernkastel sighed. 'That's why I created two locked rooms. The culprit can't be hiding in two places at once, can he?'

'_Then there were two culprits. They murdered everyone in their respective rooms, waited for everyone to discover the bodies, hid, and escaped at the right opportunity.'_

_'_Are you an idiot or something? Even without the red, the possibility of two culprits doesn't exist.'

'Why?'

'Weren't you paying any attention to the story? **Before the closed rooms were broken, almost everyone was seen outside the closed rooms. Krauss, Rudolf, Rosa and Kyrie were at the family conference. Battler saw Eva and Hideyoshi in the window. Genji went with Battler to break the chain. Gohda greeted them on the way. Nanjo and Kumasawa were with them when they discovered Natsuhi's body. **In short, everyone on the island could not have been hiding inside any of the rooms. The only exception is Kinzo, who, the last time I checked, was only one person, you know...?'

'I wasn't sure if I could trust the scenes Battler didn't see for himself firsthand.'

'That was Beato's game, and to be honest, that game got boring after a while, and I changed things a bit. **The perspectives from which this tale is told from are completely unbiased!**'

'Still doesn't matter. _After Battler or us, the observers, saw someone outside the room, that someone quickly went to the murder scene, shut the door behind them, and set the chain. This way, they already had set up a closed room._'

'**The closed rooms were created at around twelve midnight! From the time they were created to the time Genji broke the closed rooms, absolutely no one touched the chain!**'

'Repeat this: There are no more than 18 humans on this island.'

'Are you serious? **There are no more than 18 humans on this island. **You seriously think I would spoil this game with a 19th person?'

'It might be some clever wordplay with the red truth. A person's name can die, but the person himself can stay alive! _For example, the person calling herself Natsuhi gave up her name, but was still alive and played dead when Battler and the others came. This creates no contradictions with the red truth.'_

'Are you kidding me? You're kidding, right?' Bernkastel chirruped. '**Absolutely no name tricks of any sort exist within the red truth for this game! When I refer to someone by name, I refer to the collective human person that has the name! **Is this all you have?'

The red strings, which had been swirling around him, changed course and slammed into Will's chest, one after another, knocking him out of his chair. He got up as quickly as he could, all the while conscious of Bernkastel's contempous eyes burning into at his back.

'I'm not finished,' Will got to his feet, growling. 'I've got just one more theory. _Chain locks don't make a room completely closed. The door can still be opened a slight gap. The culprit used a ranged weapon, like a crossbow outfitted with a knife, fired through the gap, and killed all of them._'

'**All six victims were killed with a sharp blade at close range! The culprit was standing right next to them when he dealt the killing blow.**'

'Hmph,' Will pinched the bridge of his forehead. He was already annoyed. 'There's something about this that bugs me, though. In the cousin's closed room, they were all killed cleanly, with one straight cut to the throat. There wasn't much blood, as compared to Natsuhi's closed room. There was blood all over the place, even all the way to the chain, and she was slashed in the stomach instead of the throat. Almost as if she had put up a gigantic struggle. She died differently. This could be a hint.'

'It was a lovely death, wasn't it? I should win an award for that.'

The gates broke free, and his temper finally came rushing out. 'Do you enjoy doing this?'

'Doing what?' she said innocently.

Her stony expression, standing tall against his anger, was enough to push him further off the edge. He stood up. 'Is this fun for you? Creating a sick and horrible mystery like this? You're toying with them like they're nothing more like dolls.'

'They're just pieces,' she said evenly.

'They're still human beings! You have no right - no right to treat them like this.'

'Says the great Wizard Hunting Wright,' she gazed at him. 'You deal with mysteries, all the time, don't you?'

'Yeah, and I'm sick of it. I'm sick of witches and their games. I'm sick of everything about this fucking place. And I'm especially sick of you.'

The words were just tumbling out of his mouth. He was aware he was overstepping his bounds, but he had gone too far to take anything back. As he opened his mouth to speak again, he wondered what punishment Bernkastel would deal him this time.

She laughed. She threw herself back against her chair, put a hand to her mouth, and laughed. He stared at her, feeling his resolve dying. Somehow, this was even worse than a punishment.

'Good,' she grinned. 'Excellent I was waiting for this, you know...I was waiting for that face. It's adorable. You should wear that more often.'

'What the hell?' he said.

'I just love people like you who try to act tough,' she giggled. 'People who think their guts won't ever spill out, and the face you made when they finally did...I should've taken a picture, you know...?'

He didn't know how to react. All his dry retorts had completely deserted him. He sat back down, looking away. Her eyes, amusement sparkling in the empty depths for the first time, gazing at him like a pet who had just performed an interesting trick, was something he could not bear to look at. He was never more aware at this moment, that while she was as short as a nine year old girl and he stood at six feet, he was only an inquisitor, and she was most certainly a Witch.

'I guess you can't solve the first twilight yet, hmmm? Aah, you're really disappointing. It'll be a while before the next twilight, though, so you'll at least have time to think. Meanwhile, the game will have to move on, is that fine with you...?'

He found himself nodding to her question.

* * *

><p><em><span>That was a good mystery, wasn't it...? I expect you to have an explanation ready by the end of this tale, or else, you're just nothing but anti-fantasy, you know?...kihihihi...<span>_

* * *

><p>Grief dominated the parlor or the rest of the morning, saturating the air and filling it with cries and moans. Sitting in a place like that, Battler felt like jumping out of the window. But he, and all the other family members, were required to stay in the parlor. The killer might still be around, and no one was taking chances.<p>

Eva and Hideyoshi burst into another round of wails. Rosa followed soon after, crying into her lap. Krauss was the worst. After losing both his wife and daughter in one sitting, his soul seemed to have left him. He sat hunched over in a chair, his head hanging down and his hair is disarray, completely silent and unmoving. His grief seemed to have transcended all visible signs. Battler didn't look at him longer than he had too.

No one was grieving with him. All the cousins were dead. He was the youngest person left.

Genji opened the door. 'Master is unharmed,' he announced. 'But he refuses to come down to the parlor. He maintains his study is quite safe.'

'Let that old geezer be, then,' Rudolf said cheerfully. Out of all the others, he was the only one who seemed to be blatantly unaffected, the second runner-up being Kyrie. They weren't disturbing the others' mourning, but they weren't participating either. Instead they were gathered at the phone, talking quietly to one another in animated gestures. Battler sat apart from them.

He had been looking dazedly at the lamp in front of him for what seemed like hours, and he shifted his gaze. The servants, Gohda, Genji, Kumasawa and Nanjo sat together. Battler studied for a while, and then corrected his earlier assumption. Genji remained more deadpan than Kyrie or Rudolf or anyone else, despite the fact that he had witnessed the throats of his closest coworkers torn open like paper barely an hour ago. Still, Battler went over to sit next to him, if only to provoke some sort of reaction. Genji had been the one who had ran with him to the cousin's room, the one who broke the chain, and the one who had discovered the bodies and later covered them up with blankets together with Battler. He couldn't think to sit with anyone else.

'...such a shame. They were both young, too young...' Kumasawa was saying when Battler drew nearer.

'Shannon was spending so much time with George, I was hoping I could live to see the day that they became a couple,' Nanjo shook his head. 'I saw them holding hands just yesterday, on the beach, and they looked so...radiant.'

'I was cleaning the garden shed last week,' Gohda mumured. 'With Kanon. I accidently knocked down the flowerpot, and it broke. You know what I did? I told Kanon he had done it. So he took the blame, and he was scolded by Madam. So he never knew I broke the flowerpot. He never knew.'

'Kanon and Shannon did well,' Genji said. 'They deserve their rest.'

Battler sat on the chair next to them, unnoticed. The servants were silent for a while, wallowing in treasured memories, trying to catch them before they flew away.

'So the Blue Witch finally arrived,' Genji said after a while.

Kumasawa chuckled nervously. 'Come now, Genji...'

Nanjo stared hard at Genji, and then widened his eyes. 'You don't mean...the epitaph - they were the six sacrifices?'

'Aiya,' Kumasawa moaned, the chuckle dying in her throat. 'You can't mean that.'

'I'm only repeating the mansion says,' Genji said calmly.

'But - Genji,' Gohda grinned fiercely, as if determined to believe this was all a big joke. 'If you believe the legend, and that this is the day, that means all of us will die, right?'

'The legend makes that clear, yes.'

'You - you can't be serious!' Gohda cried, but the others looked uncertain.

Battler leaned forward, frowning. 'What's all this about a Blue Witch legend?'

Hearing his voice, they jumped violently in their seats, and instantly proceeded to look away. Only Genji maintained a straight face, and with his usual servantly demeanour answered Battler's question with a level voice.

'There has been such a legend in existence for as long as any of us can remember. The Blue Witch, the girl with the blue hair in the portrait, is a magical being who watches over Rokkenjima. She is it's caretaker.'

'It's just a silly fairy tale,' Gohda added hastily.

'She helps us servants with her household chores,' Kumasawa said. 'We'd be making the beds, and when we're missing a bedsheet, one just magically appears in front on of the door. Or when one of our keys falls off our key ring, and it's waiting for us in the servant's room.'

'T-that's just because one of the other servants took care of it and forgot to mention it to you,' Gohda stammered.

'No one did. Everything we needed, just appeared in a blink of an eye. We didn't even ask anyone. The item we needed to clean up the mansion were just there, prepared for us.' She looked at Battler with frightened eyes, as if begging him to disprove her. But he could see in her eyes that she believed.

'The Blue Witch recognises our efforts,' Genji droned. 'She sends us gifts from time to time, rewarding us. In the servant's room, on our beds, a bouquet of flowers, or a box of chocolates.'

'Kinzo would lose his chess pieces,' Nanjo said, taking out a hankerchief and wiping his sweaty face. 'and it would be sitting on the desk the next morning. He'd just laugh and say it was the will of the Blue Witch.'

'No way,' Battler said. 'That old geezer believes it too?'

'All of us at the mansion acknowledge her existence,' Kumasawa said. 'Except for Master Krauss, Lady Natsuhi and Lady Jessica. No matter how many times the Blue Witch sends them her gifts, they refuse to believe in her.'

'But the Blue Witch is patient,' Genji said, taking over Kumasawa easily. 'She loves everyone no matter how they view her.'

Battler forced a grin onto his face as he looked around the servants. They stared back at him, stony faced. His smile faded.

'You're joking, right?' he said weakly.

They looked shocked.

'You're joking,' Battler said again. 'Witches and magic don't exist, right?'

'That's right,' Gohda burst out. 'They don't!'

The other stared at him like he was some kind of madman, or, worse, a traitor. Gohda jerked away from their wide gazes, and looked down at his lap.

'Come on,' Battler said, gripping the chair arms. 'Sorry, but, you can't believe something like that, right? You can't.'

'The murders,' Nanjo swallowed. 'They were killed in rooms sealed by a chain.'

'It's impossible for a human being,' Kumasawa said. 'Only the Blue Witch can pass through chains.'

'Really? Come on, there's thousands of ways to do this. The killer could have used a crossbow of some sort, and fired through the gap through the door.'

'How could all five people get shot through the tiny gap, one after another?'

'Well, erm, er, then it isn't a crossbow then...' Battler was beginning to feel sick again. Discussing his cousin's deaths like this conjured too many unpleasant memories. Almost automatically, he thought of the blue witch, and her serene, soft face.

'So you think the Blue Witch killed them?' he said. 'Her? I thought she's the caretaker or something. I thought she loves everyone!' Her kind smile burned into his brain. 'How could an innocent child do something like that?'

'According to the legend,' Genji said. 'There will come a day where the Blue Witch of Rokkenjima will free us from this mortal world, and take us to the Golden Land.'

'Golden Land? What the hell is that?'

'A place for eternal rest. You should be grateful, Master Battler. You, and everyone here, will be privileged guests to the Golden Land, where miracles happen and wishes come true.'

Battler glared at Genji's expressionless face, and was consumed by a sudden urge to grab him by the shoulders and shake him, if only to evoke some sort of emotion. 'You...you seriously believe that?'

His voice was shaking. Genji bowed his head. 'My apologies, Master Battler. I am simply repeating the legend - '

'To hell with this! Golden Witch? Magic murders? A bastard human came and did this, and nothing else! Are you trying to cover up for that fucker?' He slammed his fist onto the table, ignoring the heads turning his way. His simmering anger finally drove home. 'Don't you dare, don't you dare disgrace the dead! Don't you dare tarnish the Blue Witch! A human did this, a normal human being, so shut the hell up!'

Genji didn't move a muscle, sitting up straight against the storm. His eyes betrayed nothing. Battler wanted to punch him.

From the other side of the room, Rudolf cleared his throat loudly. Everyone turned back to him.

'Hey, Battler, relax, okay?' Rudolf grinned. 'I was just about to make an announcement.'

Battler sat down, his cheeks burning with embarrassment 'I'm sorry,' he muttered. Genji was still looking at him in a piercing sort of way. Battler tried to ignore it.

'Now,' Rudolf said, 'While Big Bro and Big Sis were crying their eyes out, me and Kyrie took the chance to take the stock of some things. And I've got bad news,' he looked around at all of them, and gulped. 'There's no easy way to say this, I guess. A typhoon's started up, and we're all trapped here.'

In the shocked silence that followed, Rudolf leaned against the wall, unrolled a cigarette, lit it, and stuck it into his mouth. He had everybody's attention now.

'Of course, you all know this means two things - '

'PUT THAT OUT!' Eva screamed.

Silence again. Rudolf took out his cigarette and stubbed it into the carpet, ignoring the resulting stains. 'Sorry about that, Big Sis,' he said quietly, and continued in a louder voice. 'As I was saying, this means two things. One, we're trapped here, two, the killer's still on the island.'

The silence was getting uncomfortable. Rudolf's throat itched. Sweat began to roll down his forehead. 'Well, there's more bad news,' he said, and paused. He stuck his hands in his pockets, digging them as far down as they could go. 'Well, I'm not saying this for certain, but - ' he paused again. 'I checked with the servants, and no other boats arrived here recently. So I'm saying, there's more than a slight chance, that the killer is one of us.'


	6. Ridicule

'Now,' Rudolf said, tugging at his collar. 'I'm not saying that for certain, of course. I'm just saying - be on your guard. That's all. A while ago me and Kyrie went to the armory to grab Granddad's supply of Winchester Rifles.'

He pointed to several guns lying on top of each other on a table in the corner, drawing everyone's notice for the first time. The rifles' edges shined jet black.

'We could only find three, unfortunately. I'm not about to brag, but me and Kyrie are crack shots with these things, so we'll take the first two. Then - '

'Hold it,' Eva snapped, brushing the last of her tears from her eyes. 'How come you two get the first choice?'

'I told you. we probably know how to shoot better than anyone else here, so...'

'For all we know you two could be the killers!'

The room froze. Everyone stared at the group at the front, and wild theories began springing up in their heads.

'Everyone,' Kyrie's sharp voice drew them back again. 'If we really were the killers, we would have picked up the rifles and murdered all of you before you even knew of their existence. But here we are, offering weapons to you,' she snapped her fingers, not even bothering to look up. 'Get it now?'

'So you two get the first two rifles,' Eva snarled. 'but who gets the third one?'

'Logic follows that it'll be Big Bro. He's the next best marksman, am I right?'

Rudolf snagged a gun from the table and made a show of spinning it around in his hand, letting it come to a stop with the gun butt offered towards Krauss. 'Here you go, Big Bro.'

Krauss did not appear to have heard him. He did not appear to have heard anything during the last few minutes. He did not appear to have moved a single muscle since Battler had seen him.

'Hey, Big Bro,' Rudolf threw the gun into his lap. 'Man up already.'

Krauss took the gun, turning it over in his hands sluggishly, before letting it fall to the side of the chair. He looked back down, continuing to burrow deeper into his world of grief.

'Big Bro,' Rudolf grinned nervously. 'Stop that. You're scaring me.'

Krauss began muttering something. Rudolf leaned forward to hear. 'What was that?'

'Guns won't work.'

'Won't work on what?'

'The Blue Witch.'

Rudolf jerked back as if he had slapped. 'W-what the hell?'

Krauss thrust the rifle back in his limp hands.

'Give it to me,' Eva said.

Rudolf whirled on her. 'Come now, Big Sis, you sure you know how to fire one?'

'Just give to me,' she growled.

'I really don't think - '

She stood up violently, glaring at him face-to-face. 'I need to protect myself.'

'So do the rest - '

'She would be the next best choice,' Hideyoshi hastened, standing up with her.

Rudolf gave a quick sideways glance to Kyrie, for confirmation. She studied him intently, and then gave an almost imperceptable nod.

'Alright, fine, Big Sis,' Rudolf said, tossing her the rifle. It sailed past her outstretched fingers and narrowly missed Rosa's head, clattering onto the floor.

'I - I'll get it,' Hideyoshi said, rushing towards it.

'You did that on purpose,' Eva said.

'Did not,' Rudolf said. He flipped a cigerette out of his pocket and held it teasingly in front of her. 'Just don't go forgetting who's in charge here, okay? With Big Bro out of commision, I'm going to be the leader for this little group.'

'How - how can you be so - playful? Don't you realise what's going on?'

'Yeah. You're high strung cause your son got killed. I'm not cause my son's okay. Ergo, I'll still keep my spirits up for now.'

'What - how dare you - ' her tears broke free again. 'George was - '

'Now that that's settled,' Rudolf turned back to the group. 'Here's the plan for the rest of the day. We hole up here, wait for the typhoon to pass, then we leave safely. Whatever you do, stay here, right here, in this parlor. If you need to go for a bathroom break or something, make sure you go with someone you trust. Don't take any chances. As long as we stick together, we're safe.'

Eva was still glaring at him. Rudolf avoided her gaze and went to sit down next to Kyrie, apart from the group of siblings. The crowd of people in the parlor began to scatter, sitting seperately in their own little groups. One by one, the servants moved to another corner of the room, leaving Battler alone again

* * *

><p>The rain came in the afternoon, urged on by the typhoon that seperated them from the other side of the world. The water pattered against the windows, murkying everyone's view of the outside. People came and left the parlor, never alone. The chatter in the room had eased to a dull, lethargic silence. The rifles stayed where they were, the bullets still in their chambers.<p>

Near the windows, Eva yawned, and Hideyoshi immediately looked at her. 'Are ya tired?'

'No,' she murmured stubbornly, clutching her rifle in her hands.

'There's nothing much for us to do here, so you can get some rest if ya want.'

She scanned the rest of the room, her eyes narrowing, whether from sleep or suspicion Hideyoshi couldn't tell. 'I can't sleep now.'

'We're fine here, Eva.'

'You're always like this,' Eva pouted. 'I don't trust anyone here.'

'You trust me, right?'

'Of course.'

'Then go to sleep. I'll protect ya.'

Eva yawned again, and set the rifle to the side. 'No you won't. You're the one that needs protecting. The next thing I'll know, the killer'll have you at gunpoint and you'll just try to invite him to to a teriyaki dinner to make up,' she smiled. 'You're always like that.'

'And don't ya forget it,' Hideyoshi laughed, putting his arm around her. Together, they leaned back into the soft sofa, listening to the rhythmic patterns of the rain. In front of them, Krauss had still remained silent. In the past couple of hours he had, at least, moved his head around a few times, and even got up once to pace around wildly before settling down again. But he was a long way from recovering.

Rosa appeared at his side. 'Krauss, are you okay?'

Krauss lifted his head weakly. 'Rosa?'

'You look pale.'

'I'm fine, Rosa.' he slurred.

'I made you some coffee. It's the special mix you liked.'

Krauss jerked his head up, and stared at the cup in Rosa's hand. He uncertainly reached out, took it gingerly, as if afraid it might break apart in his hands any time, then slowly brought to his mouth and took a sip.

'How is it?' Rosa said.

Krauss set down the cup. Without warning, he suddenly let out a warm chuckle. 'You made it perfectly. Since when did you know I liked it this way?'

'You told me, remember?'

'When?'

'Er, if I'm not wrong...really long ago.'

'You haven't made me coffee since...I can't even remember, either,' Krauss rolled the warm coffee around his mouth, relishing it. Color began to return to his cheeks.

'Don't drink it too fast,' Eva muttered. 'You might burn your tongue.'

Krauss stared at her. 'Um...alright.'

'You look fine now,' Rosa said.

'What on earth possessed you to make coffee for me?'

'I just didn't like seeing you like this, because, you were always shouting a lot before...' Rosa flushed and looked away.

The three siblings alternated staring at one another.

'This is awkward,' Krauss said.

'A-anyway,' Eva said, 'Why were you so out of it, Krauss? We can't have someone like you moping around when there's a killer on the loose, right? If you ask me,' she cast an irritated glance at the other side of the room, where Rudolf and Kyrie were still deep in conversation. 'You're the one who's supposed to take charge in things like this.'

'Maybe,' Krauss said, 'but what good can I do against a witch?'

Rosa, who had been making to sit down, froze in mid-air. Eva and Hideyoshi leaned forward.

'I know it sounds crazy,' Krauss protested. 'But...I don't know, it's just...I don't know.'

'Hold it,' Eva said carefully. 'Are you saying the Blue Witch of Rokkenjima killed everyone?'

'Like I said,' Krauss gripped his hair. 'I know it's crazy, but it follows the epitaph, don't you think? Sacrifice the six chosen by the key. And the legend goes that the ritual would be performed eventually, and...'

The others were looking at him as if he was joking.

'Look, the three of you don't live on this island every minute of every day. The stories I've heard, the whispers behind my back, and then last year...' he shook his head, drowned himself in the rest of his coffee, and offered a weak smile. 'Anyway, witch or no witch, I have a duty to protect my siblings as the next Head, right? Rest assured I won't be giving up anytime soon.'

'Hmph,' Eva said. 'Back to your annoying old self.'

'The coffee helped. That was lovely, Rosa.'

'Thanks. I'll take it to the kitchen to wash it.'

'I'll escort you. You shouldn't go alone at a time like this.'

Kruass took the coffee cup, and they exited the parlor together. Eva and Hideyoshi stared after them.

'I thought you said you didn't trust anyone,' Hideyoshi chuckled.

'I meant something else,' Eva said. She leaned back on the sofa and rested her head on the soft leather. 'Rosa making Krauss coffee. I thought I'd never see it.' She stared blearily up at the ceiling. 'This whole day seems so...surreal. Everything's gone crazy, dear. We've got the Blue Witch running about, and then George gets - George...' she bit down on her lip.

'Shhh,' Hideyoshi whispered, reaching forward and cupping her forehead in his gentle palm.

'What are you doing?' she frowned, trying to brush it away.

'This is a cure for headaches, right? A warm hand on the affected area, soothes the skin.'

'How did you even know - '

'We're joined at the hip, remember? I'd know you from here to everywhere.'

She smiled at him, and closed her eyes. 'How corny...when was the last time we sat together like this?'

'A long time,' Hideyoshi let out a contented sigh. 'You remember when we first met, right?'

'Oh, I remember,' she stretched her smile lazily. 'It was...how old was I..? Seventeen? Oh, that was when Krauss had barely graduated. Strutting around like he owned the place, and making a fool of himself. Rudolf was just beginning to discover girls, and Rosa was just a tiny little thing,' she gave a soft giggle. 'Father was perfectly normal then, you know?'

'I remember,' Hideyoshi said. 'It was in a field full of blue flowers. What were they...forget-me-nots. There was a whole bunch of them. Pressed against the sunset, they really did look like something.'

'I took a shortcut from school, and knocked into you. All my schoolbooks dropped onto the ground. I called you an idiot,' she winced. 'Sorry about that.'

'I picked them up for you, and offered you a date at a teriyaki stall to make up,' Hideyoshi said. 'You should have seen the look on your face.'

'Then I called you a spineless fool. Sorry about that, too.'

'It's okay. I need a wake-up call every once in a while.'

'Thanks for everything, Hideyoshi. You deserve better, okay?'

'What? What's all this, all of a sudden...'

She remained silent for a brief period of time, so long that Hideyoshi thought she had fallen asleep, but then she spoke her last words.

'When we get off this island...meet me again...with those blue flowers...okay?'

'That's a promise,' he said, patting her gently on the head.

She smiled, and her breathing began to ease. When Hideyoshi was finally sure she was asleep, safely tucked far away from the darkest corners of this island, he withdrew his hand and contented himself with gazing into her peaceful face.

* * *

><p>Nanjo had to settle for a different kind of view. It was either the trapped faces of those around him or the rain pounding at the roses outside. He contented himself with looking at the rain. Kumasawa drew next to him, wringing her hands and staring into the distance. From here, the coastline and the sea beyond it wasn't visible, but people were allowed to dream, after all.<p>

'if the Blue Witch is the one comitting these murders,' Nanjo said, 'That would mean none of us will leave the island alive.'

'Don't say such things.' Kumasawa moaned.

'I apologise.'

'This was supposed to be my day off,' Kumasawa said, wringing her hands. 'I was supposed to spend it with my son. But the Master insisted.'

'They say when you get older, you get wiser,' Nanjo fixed his eyes on the roses. 'I still want to have those years, Kumasawa.'

They bored their eyes into the window in front of them, as if they could break free of the stifling parlor and sail away from this cursed island.

Gohda's face popped out between them. 'I have a sick brother waiting for me at home,' he said, retaining his knack of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time.

Despite themselves, Nanjo and Kumasawa broke into smiles, the tension broken for a brief moment. The three of them chatted quietly for a while, reminiscing about their lives and loved ones, forgetting for a moment their feet were on the ground of the Ushiromiya owned Rokkenjima, forgetting the one-winged eagle hanging over their heads. After a while, they realised one person wasn't joining them. Genji, still remaining seated, staring blankly at the wall. What he was thinking, no one knew.

'Genji,' Kumasawa bustled over to him. 'How about you? Do you have anyone on the other side who's waiting for you? Like a brother, or a wife?'

This was a question they had always asked Genji, and it was a question that he had always ignored. This time however, he turned his head slightly, and looked directly at them.

'My duty is to the Ushiromiya family and it's servants,' he said, something almost indiscernable flashing in his eyes. 'I will make sure you all return home safely.'

No one was sure who to reply to that. Until Gohda, wildly enthusiastic as usual, put his hand to his chest.

'Master Genji,' he swallowed. 'I - er - I've always looked up to you. It's been an honour.'

Genji didn't show a flicker of emotion, but tipped his head slightly, in a sort of bowing gesture reserved only to Ushiromiyas and guests. That small gesture spoke volumes more than any smile on anyone else's face could have hoped to, and Gohda instantly blushed. Nanjo and Kumsawa left the window, chuckling to each other. The parlor didn't seem quite so stifling anymore.

* * *

><p>Will observed the brightly lit parlor from the dim air of the witch's hall. 'Huh. I wouldn't have expected such scenes to show up in your game.<p>

'What's the matter with you?' Bernkastel murmured, resting her head with an elbow on the table and idly doodling on the cloth with a finger. She seemed to have completely forgotten her earlier triumph over Will, reverting back to her lethargic state. 'I show you guts, you shout at me. I show you love, you just pout. Just what do you want?'

'I want them to stop acting like pieces,' Will studied their happy faces, trying to sear their expressions into his mean. 'Besides, the bigger the tower you build, the more destruction it causes when you topple it, right?'

'You're smarter than you look,' she smirked. 'It's one of the general rules of fiction, you know...? The first time, you love them...'

'...the second time, you tear out their guts,' Will finished, his face grim. 'Yeah. I see it all the time. and I'm sick of it.'

'You aren't like the other SSVD people, you know? I might just keep you as a pet after this, so that's something you can look forward too, okay...?'

Will tried to ignore her, and kept his expression calm. 'Enough of your jibes. We need to start the second twilight.'

'Sure. but first...' She picked a teacup out of the air, and lifted it daintily to her lips. 'Let's spill just a little more guts before that, shall we?'

* * *

><p>Battler was sprawled over the sofa, lost in the a maelstrom of dangerous thoughts, when a hand clapped on his back and jerked him from his stupor. Rudolf plopped himself next to his son, Kyrie taking up her usual place beside her husband.<p>

'You alright Battler?' Rudolf grinned. 'You look a little out of it there.'

Battler was seeing more and more sides of his father every passing hour, and, funnily enough, he was the last person Battler wanted to see right now. 'I'm fine.'

'You're fine? Yeah, sure your cousins get murdered and you're fine,' Rudolf leaned back. 'I won't pretend I understand your loss, Battler, but I just want you to know that...' he paused and his mouth twitched, unwilling to dip his beak into his endless lake of pride.

'What he means is,' Kyrie said, 'He's your father and he cares for your welfare.'

'Yeah,' Battler muttered. If there was still a level of iciness with Rudolf, then Kyrie was a stone cold blizzard. 'Thanks, but I think I'm fine.'

'Ya sure about that, Battler?' Hideyoshi said, coming towards them. 'Oh - Kyrie' you're here too. I hope I'm not disturbing a family moment.'

'No, no, nothing like that,' Rudolf said. 'In fact, I've meaning to talk to you. Take a seat.'

Hideyoshi sat down, beaming.

'What're so happy about?'

'Oh, it's nothing really, just that I realised how lucky I am to be married.'

Rudolf glanced towards Eva, who was sleeping undisturbed on the sofa. 'Heh. Big Sis looks pretty cute like that.'

'Yeah, she does,' Hideyoshi said.

Rudolf leaned forward further still, until his was resting his body on his elbows. 'You're really quite some guy, right Hideyoshi?'

'Ya already told me that,' Hideyoshi said, flapping a hand in modest dismissal.

'What's ironic,' Rudolf stretched his teeth wide, 'Is that in most Western's the nice guy tuns about to be a psycho in the end. Did you know that?'

Hideyoshi looked confused. Next to him, Battler sighed, worn down by his father's inappropiate jokes. 'Old man, this is serious.'

'It is,' Kyrie said, and there was something strange in her expression.

'Might as well come out with it now,' Rudolf said. He lifted his head and called out. 'Hey, everyone. I've got another announcement.'

Everyone turned towards the four of them, sitting on the two sofas.

'Right,' Rudolf said, turning to the shocked Hideyoshi, still wearing his predator's grin. 'As I was saying, Hideyoshi, regading the murders of Natsuhi, George, Jessica, Maria, Shannon and Kanon this morning - there could only have been two culprits. Namely, Eva, and you. The both of you planned and executed the entire first twilight.'


	7. Rudolf and Hideyoshi

Will stalked through the mansion, his hands in his pockets and a frown on his face. There were voices coming from the parlour, frightened, angry, confused voices, and he tried to block them out. He didn't pay heed to the sound his heavy footsteps made - no matter what he did, the people inside the parlour wouldn't be capable of comprehending his existence.

As he passed the portrait of the Blue Witch, feeling her smile burn onto him, Bernkastel appeared in front of him in a cloud of blue. 'What's the matter, Wright? Come back to the Hall.'

Will clenched his fists in irritation. He had come directly to the gameboard to avoid Bernkastel's sadistic glare, even if only for a brief moment - but it seemed she had already caught up with him.

'I'm just taking a break,' Wil muttered.

'Well, don't take too long, okay? And don't think of trying to escape. If you do, I'll throw you into Oblivion, remember?'

'Yeah, yeah,' Will didn't want to look at her face anymore. He turned his gaze to the Blue Witch in the portrait, with her clasped hands and the blue hair flowing over her back. He didn't want to think of Bernkastel as anything more than a monster, but he had to admit, the piece she had designed was quite had charmed him from the very start. He could spend hours looking at the girl, embracing her and the world she offered, if not for other blue-haired witches imprisoning him in their twisted bloody games.

This version of the Witch of Rokkenjima seemed relatively tamer than Beatrice as well, Will thought, gazing into the blue girl's face. She had also been drawn to be more lifelike as well, painted with infinite care and attention to even the most miniscule of details, making her seem like she was only a few shimmers of reality away from climbing out the portrait and shaking his hand.

She did just that.

As he watched, one eye on the Blue Witch closed, seeming to wink at him. The next thing he knew, she had lifted herself out from her chair and locked her sweet eyes on his.

Will jerked back. 'What the hell - ?'

She exited the portrait, practically launching herself out, and Will automatically found his hands rising up to catch her. Her soft weight seemed to lock onto his palms perfectly, and she threw her arms around his shoulders, embracing him. Her head came up, the blue hair falling from her shoulders, and he could see a mischievous smile on her face, the sort a four-year old kid would have from another time when she wants to play.

'Good afternoon, Willard H. Wright,' she sang, extending her hand. 'I'm the Blue Witch! Nice to meet you!'

'Er - ' Still supporting her delicate form with one hand, Will hesitantly returned her gesture with his other hand. Color had flushed to his cheeks, painting them an astonished red, and he didn't know why.

'Finally,' Bernkastel sighed. 'You're late, Blue Witch.'

'Sorry about that,' the Blue Witch chirped, jumping down from her perch and walking over to greet her master. 'But I'm here now! That's all that matters, right? You're so impatient sometimes, Bern, lighten up a little!'

'Hmph. Just for speaking to me like that, I could throw you into Hell, a thousand times over, you know...?'

'Hell's not so bad,' the Blue Witch said lightly. 'Besides, you won't be throwing me anywhere as long as you're fighting this handsome guy, right?' she pointed at Will. 'Hey, he's really gorgeous. Did you put pimple cream, Mr Willard?'

'You know who this is, right?' Bernkastel said, smirking at Will's discomfort.

'Yeah,' Will said, rational thought returning now that the witch's warmth had left his body momentarily. 'She's the illusion of the Blue Witch that everyone was talking about, right? The caretaker of Rokkejima, the kind witch who wants everyone to join her in the Golden Land. The one who everyone loves. In other words, like a perfect Mary Sue for each and every single individual person.'

'I'm a...personification?' the Blue Witch frowned. 'Bern, what's a per - personification?'

'Don't think about it too much,' Will grunted. 'You'll get a headache.'

'You have a nice face, Mister Will.'

'Er - thanks.'

'No, I mean it. It's like the face of those movie stars on tv!' she twirled round, her dress spinning around her in a white ring. 'You're like some Prince Charming!'

'Okay,' Will said.

'So I think I'll gouge your chest instead of your face,' she said, abruptly coming to a stop. 'But then you're lungs will be torn up and you'll be coughing blood everywhere, it's gonna be messy, right? Hey, Mister Will, how should I kill you?'

Will stared at her. 'Erm.' he said.

'Stop that,' Bernkastel sighed. 'He's my piece. He doesn't exist in this gameboard, remember?'

'Oh. Yeah.' she gave him a sympathetic look. 'Sorry about that.'

'I'd rather not be killed, thank you very much,' Will muttered, slowly backing away from her.

'Why?' she looked at him with eyebrows raised.

'Cause I'll...die?'

'Yeah,' she nodded vigorously. 'You'll die, and get invited to the Golden Land! Come on, haven't you heard of it? It's a forever ongoing party over there, and I'm the host,' she smiled, dancing towards him. 'Come on, Mister Will, you know you want to, right?'

Will, still frantically backpeddling, cast a dark look at Bernkastel. 'Are you serious?'

'What's the matter?' Bernkastel said, a perfectly innocent look on her face, 'She's the Blue Witch. Caretaker of Rokkenjima and the Host of the Golden Land. I thought you liked lovey dovey characters like these,' A smile curled up onto her face. 'Or would you rather see some guts?'

'Hmph,' Will grunted, and looked away.

'Anyway, you'll see some guts pretty soon, whether you like it or not. The game's still going on, you know...? It's about to reach the exciting part.'

As if a knob had been turned, the voices from the parlor became louder, allowing the three to hear the rage and desperation layered within each person's shout. The Blue Witch dropped her smile for the first time, clutching her side. 'They're fighting, aren't they?'

'People do that,' Will said.

'They shouldn't,' she frowned, all the warmth vanishing from her face. 'Bern, can I kill them?'

'No,' Bernkastel said. She clicked her fingers, and the Blue Witch vanished.

'What did you do to her?' Will asked, feeling curiously cold in her abscence.

'She can be such a pain sometimes, so I sent her away for a while,' Bernkastel raised her hand, and extended a razor sharp finger towards the palor. 'Besides, the second act of this game is about to begin, and we wouldn't want to have any distractions, would we? There's supposed to be silence in the cinema when a show's beginning, you know...?'

* * *

><p>'Rudolf,' Hideyoshi cracked an uneasy grin, still willing to believe all this was a ghastly joke.<p>

'Be quiet,' Rudolf smirked. 'Anything you say can and will be used against you.'

The three of them sat in the center of the room, at the center of attention, Battler, Rudolf, and Hideyoshi. Battler stared at his father, trying desperately to work out who the person he was looking at was now.

'Y-you're serious,' Hideyoshi stammered.

'Yeah. I'm serious. And you all...' he looked around at all the wide eyes faces turned towards them, before focusing his grin back to Hideyoshi, '..are probably damn near skeptical right now, so hear me out, will you?'

'Hideyoshi can't be...' Krauss began, back from his trip to the kitchen with Rosa. All the warmth of the coffee in his belly had dissipated immediately.

'Shut up for a moment, Big Bro,' Rudolf said, not bothering to take his eyes off his prey. 'All of you, listen. The six that were killed today - random killings, don't you think? Totally unconnected to each other. Two servants, three innocent kids, a woman - unrelated. So that might mean two things. The first is that the guy is a complete nutjob who wants to kill everyone he sees, but that's not possible. If he suddenly went axe crazy on us, then why did he stop at six? Why didn't he kill the four of us in the conference room while we were sleeping? So the possibility of a serial killer is out. The second possibility, is that it's a plotline murder.

'That's right, folks. In case you haven't figured it out by now, the murders are done according to the epitaph in front of the Blue Witch's portrait. Offer up the six sacrifices chosen by the key, sound familiar, anyone? Now the reason for this, I'll go into later, but for now let's focus on the fact that our culprit _wanted to kill exactly six people_. Now - '

'Wait,' said Rosa, turning pale. 'If the murders are according to the epitaph, then isn't one of the lines "And none will be left alive"?'

'He plans to kill us all?' Kumasawa moaned.

'Exactly,' Rudolf said, without so much as a backward glance. 'So all we need to do is get the killer before he gets us. Which is why there's no point delaying this further. As I was saying, the killer needed to kill six victims in order to fulfill the epitaph. So he picked a room he knew would have exactly six people in it. Namely, the room with the cousins and the servants. There should have been six there...but something went wrong.'

He glanced at Battler, and this time his smile really did drop a little, although it was back in a flash. 'Kumasawa tells me you were going for a walk or something, Battler, so you weren't in the room at the time. A close shave, huh?'

That thought had already occurred to Battler, but he had brushed it off easily when he thought of the bodies, and he brushed it off now when he saw his father's face. The way he leaned forward, his limbs stayed tightened and his grin grew wider, as if he were a wolf preparing to spring.

'So,' Rudolf said, switching back to Hideyoshi, who had been silent the entire time. 'Let's turn over the chessboard, shall we? The killer knows beforehand there should be six people in the cousin's room, so he goes in, starts going at it with the knife, and five people are dead. But the sixth is missing. THe killer panics, this is something he never saw coming, so what does he do? He goes to find the six person, and here's the clincher. He knew this particular sixth person would be alone, he knew exactly where to find her, and knew exactly the moment to strike.'

He paused. 'Who sent Natsuhi out of the dining hall in tears, again?'

A deadly silence hung in the air. Hideyoshi swallowed, and tried to smile again. 'Come on, Rudolf, ya can't think - '

'You needed a sixth sacrifice!' Rudolf roared. 'You needed someone you could kill easily, in a secluded place. There was some time before the conference, right? So just before the conference, either you or Big Sis went in, and killed the cousins. You found out Battler was missing, so you arranged a plan - '

'Dad - ' Battler began.

'Natsuhi doesn't normally rush up to her room in tears everytime, but Big Sis really seemed especially pissed at her. I'd always wondered about that, and now I know,' Rudolf's eyes blazed, going in for the kill. He hadn't appeared to have heard Battler at all. 'That was your contingency plan. You knew Natushi broke under pressure easily, you knew that she would rush to her room, alone, and that was when you two made your move! You left early, right, about some mumbo jumbo about being tired and all that. _That was just an excuse! _The real reason you two left early was to _go upstairs and slit Natushi's stomach apart! _'

'B-but the closed rooms,' Nanjo said desperately. 'They had chains on them...'

'Simple enough,' Rudolf snapped his fingers in a passable imitation of Kyrie. 'There was someone hiding in each room. Big Sis, for example, locked herself in Natsuhi's room, set the chain, hid, and waited for the others to discover the bodies and leave! Hideyoshi did the same for the cousin's room! It isn't even a locked room, at all!' He swung his finger round and stabbed it at Hideyoshi's chest. 'Checkmate, Hideyoshi.'

Hideyoshi looked like a balloon about to burst. His mouth was closing and opening rapidly, and he was breathing hard and fast.

'Of course,' Rudolf said lazily, settling back into his sofa. 'If you have anything to say to defend yourself, feel free.'

For a moment, it looked like Hideyoshi was about to explode. Rudolf leaned forward again, bracing himself for the blow eagerly. But instead, impossibly, miraculously, Hideyoshi's face cleared. He sat up straight. And then he smiled. A genuine smile.

Rudolf's own grin seemed to freeze on his face. 'Yes, Hideyoshi?'

'That's...that's a good theory, Rudolf, you're pretty smart.'

'Oh, I owe it all to Kyrie. Now, you have something to bring up.'

'Yeah,' Hideyoshi scratched the back of his head. 'Ya see - you know Eva, right? She - she may be a bit fierce, but deep down she cares for all of us, y'know?'

'Is that all you have to say?' Rudolf said incredulously.

'No - no, I mean - one of the victims was George - our son. And if you're suggesting Eva looked him in the eye and slit him in the throat like that - sorry, but I think you're theory doesn't hold much weight. We love George.'

The memory of his son's death was beginning to show on his face, but he continued talking in his normal, jovial tone, to the growing amazement of the onlookers. 'George...was Eva's son. A mother's love...you can't attach a price to it, whether it be money, the family Headship, or whatever, the love is still there. There ain't a thing on this earth that'll make Eva harm a hair of George's head.'

His simple, smiling face was all it took for sanity to return to the parlor. The tension dissolved in a snap, and hesitant smiles sprouted on everyone's faces.

'Oho,' Kumasawa said, chuckling, the vigor returning to her body. 'Master Hideyoshi could never - '

'Are. You. Serious?'

Rudolf's entire body was shaking. It was a while before anyone realised he was locked in a laughing fit. Wheezing chuckles escaped from his lips, and then when he finally looked up, the grin on his face was the grin of a demon. 'Ihihihihi...you're...really...serious?'

His body dropped forward again, until his blazing face was directly above Hideyoshi's knees. 'You're kidding me, right? You can't be the culprits because of a mother's love? You're joking, right?'

'Erm,' Hideyoshi said. 'I'm not - '

'Hey, Hideyoshi. There's something I'd always wanted to tell you.' Rudolf leaned in further yet, until he was almost nose to nose with Hideyoshi. 'Wanna hear it?'

'Y-yeah...'

Rudolf's eyes went wide and his grin stretched to impossible proportions. '**You're a fucking idiot.**'

As Hideyoshi reared back, his eyes widening, Rudolf's voice shot up as he mercilessly plowed on. 'Are you, like nine years old or something? A mother's love is impenetrable, huh? A mother's love has no price tag, huh? Are you kidding?' He shot back into his sofa again, as if Hideyoshi wasn't worth the effort anymore. 'Nobody's going to fall for those fairy tales anymore, Hideyoshi. Love is a commodity, a currency, a business. Here, I need some love, but I'll only give you some if you love me back. A done deal, let's marry on it. Equivelent exchange. Conditional. So you can go take your mother's love and fuck yourself with it, Hideyoshi, cause I'm done playing around.'

'We couldn't kill George,' Hideyoshi said, his voice ringing hollow. He wasn't smiling anymore.

'Yeah, you could. Here's how it went down. The two of you planned a murder plot, in order to get the inheritance and the headship after everyone else was dead. You told George about it, but, being the poor young fool he is, he probably rejected it. In fact, he was going to tell the others. So what did you do? You made a business assessment. You weighed the amount of love George gave you against the headship, and you made a snap decision! _You traded in his love for this entire plan to carry out!_'

'What are ya saying?' Hideyoshi demanded.

Rudolf smirked, pleased that he had finally found a crack in his target's defences. 'I'm saying that you two could kill George, no problem. Eva probably did look into his eyes when she slit his throat. A heavy price, but, all's fair in love in war.' A cigarette was suddenly in his hand, and he slotted it into his mouth. 'Stop dicking around, Hideyo - '

'SHUT UP, OLD MAN!'

The cigarette fell out of his mouth and tumbled onto his lap, unlit. Battler was standing up, his hands clenched, his teeth gnashing in pure fury. He had sat there and listened to his father destroy everything he had known about him. Gone was the playboy prankster he had admired when he was little. In his place was a cold hearted villain trying to tear Battler's nicest uncle to bits.

'Battler,' Rudolf began uncertainly. 'Sit down - '

'Just shut up! You - just shut up. Fuck all your business dealings and all that bullshit!'

'I'm sorry, Battler,' Rudolf said, and the funny thing was, his expression had changed completely, now looking genuinely apologetic. 'Forgot you were in the room for a while.'

'Think I'm too young to be hearing these things, is that it, old man?' Battler growled, his father's earlier words resounding in his head with dark chimes. 'Well, you wouldn't want your son to know that his father's a sleazy, soulless, cocky little bastard - '

Everyone stared at him, wide eyed. Only Rudolf alone remained impassive. But his smile had been wiped off his face completely.

'Battler - '

'Shut up,' Battler snapped. He extended his arm and swung it at Rudolf, his finger pointing into his father's chest like a dagger. '_Aunt Eva and Uncle Hideyoshi can't be the culprits!_'

'Do you think so? Rudolf said, picking his cigarette up. He didn't put it back in his mouth.

'I fucking well think so. You said Aunt Eva murdered the cousins before the conference, and that's fucking wrong,' Battler practically spat the words out. '**I left the cousin's room after the conference started! They were alive before Aunt Eva made Aunt Natushi leave the dining hall! **In other words, if Aunt Eva was the culprit, she wouldn't have known there were only five people when she sent Natushi out to be the sixth one!'

'Then she sent Natushi out as insurance,' Rudolf said. 'Big Sis was always big on foresight.'

'Bullshit! That argument's as thin as fuck! You might as well say all of us are the culprits, then!' Battler thrust out his middle finger to join his second one. 'There's also another point. When I went to the mansion, a few minutes before Krauss found Natushi's room locked with the chain, **I saw Eva and Hideyoshi from one of the windows in the mansion! They could not have hidden in and created the closed rooms!**'

'They went into the rooms a split second after you saw them, then,' Rudolf replied. 'Though they would have to be pretty fast,' he added, almost to himself.

'Stop fucking around, old man!' Battler shouted, realising with a bitter taste that his father would never give in. 'Uncle Hideyoshi is the nicest person is this crappy family! Aunt Eva may be a bit sharp, but she's kind to me and she won't ever kill George! Don't you dare slander their names, you hear me!' He withdrew his hand and swung it back again, the words pounding at Rudolf's face in rapid succession. 'I won't allow anyone to insult anyone in this family! No one here would kill anyone, so don't make some bullshit up without any fucking evidence, old man!'

* * *

><p>'<strong>But it is,<strong>' Bernkastel giggled, leaning in close to whisper into Battler's ear. '**The culprit is one of the 18 on this island.**'

From next to Rudolf, Will uttered a warning growl. 'Stop that.'

'You're no fun, you know that?'

'I don't understand you,' Will muttered. 'Why did you weave such a heartless tale?'

'Everyone does it, Wright,' she brushed her blue hair behind her back. 'Deal with it.'

'You enjoy their pain. You revel in it,' Will shook his head. 'I've heard of such people, but I can't understand them.'

Bernkastel's tail twitched. 'Don't you dare try to understand me, Wright.'

'Sorry, but that's one of my philosophies,' Will said. 'I don't ever, ever neglect the heart.'

'You're making me want to throw up, you know...?' Bernkastel said. 'People like you are people that I don't understand, either.'

* * *

><p>As soon as Battler finished his outburst, the entire room fell silent. It was broken quickly by various mutterings of assent. Then people started nodding their heads, and as one, they moved two steps towards Hideyoshi's side of the room, turning all their bodies to face Rudolf, leaving him alone on the sofa. Rudolf didn't seem to notice. All his concentration was locked onto Battler, his eyes searching his son for even the faintest hint of mercy. When he didn't get any, he stuck the cigarette in, lit it, and inhaled as deeply as he could. Then he finally looked around the room.<p>

They were glaring at him like he was a criminal. Or worse, the culprit. He could read the emotions in their faces, feel the hate and rage bounce off him, and he realised he had lost. He sighed, and got up. 'Come on, Kyrie, let's...'

Kyrie wasn't there. The spot where she had been sitting next to Rudolf was completely empty. He stared at the spot, frowning. Now that he had thought about it, Kyrie hadn't uttered a single word since he had begun his attack on Hideyoshi. She must have slipped out while they were all otherwise occupied.

There was something else that was off. The cigarette still feeding smoke comfortably into his lungs, and no one was reaching across the room to try and wrench it from his mouth.

'Eva,' Hideyoshi said. 'Where's Eva?'

Rudolf jerked his head round to the spot where he had last seen his sister sleeping. Her sofa was completely bare.

'Where's Eva?' Hideyoshi cried, a note of panic creeping into his voice for the first time.

'S-she might have gone to the toilet with someone,' Rosa said, but all of them knew it wasn't true. No one would have simply gone on a toilet break when the fierce battle between Rudolf and Hideyoshi had enraptured everyone else.

'Did anyone see Kyrie?' Rudolf said, but no one was paying any attention to him.

'Did anyone see Eva leave?' Hideyoshi pleaded. 'Did anyone see her wake up?'

'The last I saw, she was still on the sofa,' Krauss said, his face pale. He collapsed into a random chair, and began muttering to himself incoherently. Everyone else began weakly looking round the room. All anyone knew was that Eva and Kyrie had been in the parlor one moment, the next time they had looked, the two women had vanished.

'They might be in danger,' Nanjo said. Everyone instantly turned to him.

Nanjo cleared his throat awkwardly. 'I am only suggesting, because the second line of the epitaph is "tear apart the two who are close", and erm, two people are missing, Eva and Kyrie...'

Hideyoshi sprang from his chair, and started to rush towards the door.

'H-hold it, Hideyoshi!' Nanjo held up his hands. 'We can't go alone.'

'Then follow me, then!' Hideyoshi snapped, already halfway out. Nanjo and Genji bustled after him, Battler bringing up the rear, and then suddenly everyone was stumbling out of the parlor, out of the light and into the dark confines of the rest of the mansion.


	8. Tear Apart the Two

'There!' Hideyoshi cried, pointing outside. The next thing everyone knew, they were hurrying out the double doors of the mansion.

The rain hit them like a tidal wave as soon as they burst out into the rose garden. Hideyoushi leapt down the stairs two at a time, nearly tripping over himself on the slippery marble, and snatched up the object he had seen from the window that had brought him and the others rushing down: a small, edged white paper fan.

'She...she must've dropped this,' Hideyoshi growled. 'She must be nearby.'

Rudolf was already at his side, the pounding rain having left his once sharp haircut into a murky mess. 'We've gotta search this garden.'

Hideyoshi nodded mutely, and the two of them began spreading out. The others uncertainly followed suit, their eyes scanning the dark corners of the outside around them, where anything could be hiding within its shadowy depths.

'But how - ?' Kumasawa kept wailing as she and Nanjo jogged along the left side of the rose garden. 'Lady Eva and Lady Kyrie was just there! I saw them! They were on the sofas, and now they're gone! How? How did they vanish?'

Nanjo shook his head, clearing his eyes of the cold rain, and chose not to reply.

Battler ran as hard as he could down the center of the roses, sweat mixed in with the water pouring down his face. He had never really been close to both the missing women, but it seemed impossible, unreal even, that two sacrifices would be served up right off the bat barely a few hours after the first six. He couldn't comprehend it at all. He screamed his outrage at the heavens as he ran, his eyes frantically dashing all about the bushes, praying he wouldn't find a body.

'They are over here,' he heard Genji say. It sounded like a death sentence. Battler jerked to a stop, turned around, and walked to a pile of bushes where Genji was standing, as still as a statue.

Krauss and Hideyoshi were already there. Krauss had fallen to his knees. Hideyoshi was cradling something. Battler looked.

His stepmother was lying outstretched on the grass. The left side of her face was frozen in a permanent expression of shock. The other side was completely gone, dissolved into a bloody mesh. Battler couldn't tear his eyes away. He looked.

Rudolf came to a stop beside him. He opened his mouth. Father and son barely noticed each other.

A loud sob jerked them out of their trance. Hideyoshi, wrapping his arms around his wife, as if he could cover up the gaping hole in her stomach.

Then, a miracle in the rain of despair, Eva opening her eyes.

Hideyoshi's head snapped round. 'Doctor Nanjo!' he screamed. 'She's still alive!'

Nanjo plodded uselessly towards the body, his hands half raised. He stared at the wound, and dropped his hands. Eva's eyes were slipping shut again.

'No - no - Eva, can ya hear me? Eva!'

Her mouth moved, and he threw forward his head to hear. 'Eva! Come on! Eva!'

'I...' she whispered, her eyes now barely more than slits. 'I...can see...the roses...'

'Doctor!' Hideyoshi squeaked.

'Hid - Hideyoshi...' He could no longer see the light beneath her eyelids anymore. 'Hideyoshi...the roses...they're so blue...'

'I know, Eva, I know, open ya eyes!'

She didn't reply anymore. THe rain began piling up in her stomach, dripping out red.

Krauss moaned, and began to sway.

'Fuck,' Rudolf whispered, whipping his head from left to right at both the women. 'Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.' He staggered backwards, saved only by the railing. His shaking hands dug into his pocket, spilling cigarettes all over the rainy ground. He picked one up after two tries and thrust it into his mouth. He paused. Then he plucked it out and hurled it out into the bushes.

'Rest in peace,' he muttered, 'Big Sis.' He leaned heavily against the railing and said no more.

Krauss finally fell, splashing into the rain like a deadweight. Rosa hurried to pick him up, althought her face was as pale as his. She cast one look at the bodies, and her face drained further. 'Their rifles...'

Rudolf jerked his head up. 'What?'

'Their rifles...they're..they're not there.'

Rudolf hunched over and scanned the entire ground. Not one trace of the weapons Eva and Kyrie had carried with them existed. The only defense they had against the mass murderer now was the lone rifle sitting in his own hands. Even as he thought this, it was wrenched from his grasp.

He stared in dumb fascination as Hideyoshi, raising the rifle like a club, began smashing the steel railing with all his might. Harder and harder, punctuating each clang with a roar that shattered the thunder like a battle cry, he never even stopped once until the fence lay in broken bits of metal. The rifle was bent at an angle, tarnished by the small man's rage. Everyone stared at him in shock.

'The fuck!' Rudolf yelled darting over. 'Don't go wasting - '

Hideyoshi's expression was murderous. He turned away from Rudolf and began jogging towards the direction of the mansion, his rifle pointinng in front of him like a lance.

'H-hey The hell are you going?'

Hideyoshi didn't answer. He didn't seem to be capable of doing so. He charged up the steps, nearly falling over, showing no signs of stopping until Rudolf flew from the side and brought the both of them tumbling back down into the rain.

'Are - you - an idiot?' Rudolf growled, forcing the thrashing man deeper into the ground. His haircut was ruined, obliberated into a chaotic mesh by the rain, but he didn't seem to notice. 'Splitting up is suicide, and don't just go off carrying our only weapon - '

'Let me go,' Hideyoshi choked out, flailing wildly, and finally managed to throw Rudolf's small frame off his body. He scrambled to his feet, only for Rudolf to grab his leg and bring the whole lot of them crashing down again. The others just stared, incapable of comprehending the sight of the two grown men brawling in the rain.

'I have to - Eva - let go!' Hideyoshi snarled, struggling to get up.

Rudolf dug in from his position on the ground, gritting his teeth. 'This culprit - this motherfucker, that's just what he wants, don't you see? You come charging in alone and you'll get a bullet to the head. Don't be an idiot!'

'Eva's dead!' Hideyoshi roared at him.

'My wife's dead too, but you don't see me being a total fuckup about it!' Rudolf shouted back. 'You want to honor her death, don't go off getting yourself killed!'

'I - have to...'

'You believe in your wife's love, right?' Rudolf grabbed Hideyoshi's shoulder's forcing him back down. 'Then for fuck's sake don't be a bloody hypocrite! Your wife wants you to live, you live, you understand, you bastard? You understand?'

Hideyoshi punched him, and Rudolf reeled back, blood flying from his nose. Hideyoshi was up on his feet at once. But he remained where he was. Rudolf stood up a second later. The both of them stood seething at each other in the storm, their suits muddy and their faces drenched.

'P-please,' Rosa whispered. 'Don't fight...'

Nanjo rushed forward, lifting his hands in the same useless gesture, as if he thought he could stop the fight by words alone. 'Please, everyone, calm down - '

'I'm sorry,' Hideyoshi said.

'Eh?' Rudolf barked at him.

'I'm sorry,' Hideyoshi repeated, and collapsed into a sitting position on the ground. He stared at Eva's body a few meters away. Then he began to sob into his knees.

'Fucking crybaby,' Rudolf spat at him and strode off with his hands in his pockets, going to his own quiet corner next to Kyrie's body. Everyone remained where they were, quietly radiating their grief. It was a long time before everyone was able to bring themselves to leave the cold rose garden and its whirling storm.

* * *

><p>'Well, that was a good show,' Bernakstel grinned. 'An emotional scene, with a little violence thrown in. What do you think?'<p>

She waved her hand, and a scattering of applause burst into existence. Will drowned them out by slamming his fist onto the table. 'Enough. Let's start the reasoning of the Second Twilight right now.'

'Reasoning?' The Blue Witch popped into existence, clasping her hands together. 'That sounds exciting!'

Her bright voice coming right on the heels of the second tragedy made Will's head pound. 'Go away.'

'Aww, he's like a tsundere!' The Blue Witch floated towards him, bending over and stroking his face with a small finger. 'A cold stoic prince, playing hard to get, huh?'

Will swatted her out of the way. 'I said go away,' he snarled, but less forceful than before. Althought he hated to admit it, he knew the Blue Witch wasn't teasing him with malicious intent like her master had been doing. The Blue Witch was simply making a whimsical observation on his behaviour, which, apparently, she found cute. Something warm sparkled in Will's chest and he immediately stamped it out. He hated mind games like these.

'If you don't mind, Will,' Bernkastel said, obviously enjoying his discomfort, 'The Blue Witch will be taking over from now on.'

'What? Why?'

'It's boring if you have the same contestants each time, you know...? Might as well make it interesting for the viewers.'

'Ooh, really?' The Blue Witch spun around an a flowery motion. 'You mean I get to do the red truth thing?'

'Yeah. You know how to play, right?'

'Of course!' She grinned. 'Erm, let's see...**Eva and Kyrie were killed in the rose garden. **How's that?'

'It's still a possible murder,' Will said. 'While everyone was focused in Rudolf's attack on Hideyoshi in the parlor, the culprit snuck out, killed them both, and went back in.'

'Hey, that's no fair! No one in the parlor killed them, I did!' she stuck out her tongue, wagging it in his face. Will felt a headache coming on.

'Use the red truth, then,' Bernkastel said.

'Okay. **At the time when Eva and Kyrie were killed, Rudolf, Hideyoshi, Battler, Krauss, Rosa, Genji, Kumasawa, Nanjo and Gohda were the in the parlor. **How's that! I just gave everyone alibis!'

'There's still one person unaccounted for,' Will said, stabbing his finger down on the tabletop. 'The one person, who, for some reason, hasn't been seen this entire game. Kinzo.'

'Okay, fine. **At the time when Eva and Kyrie were killed, Kinzo was in his office.**'

'Hmph,' Will grunted. 'So he does exist after all.'

'So you see,' the Blue Witch grinned. 'No humans left alive could have killed them, so only I could have! Gosh, you're really stupid under all those looks, aren't you?'

She reached out to tap his head, but he drew back. '_Then they were killed by a trap. _That way, the killer didn't have to be present to kill.'

Bernkastel let out an unnecessarily long sigh. 'That may have worked in Beato's game, but for goodness sake don't try it here. If you're going to suggest a trap, you'd better explain it. For example, what kind of trap could kill the two women, take their rifles, and sink into the ground unnoticed? If you can explain it, I will accept it. If you can't, well...' Bernkastel grinned to mirror her piece. 'Then there's really nothing behind that face, you know...?'

'Good one, Master!' the Blue Witch sang, drawing a red shard of glass from the air. She raised it and drove it through Will's shoulder.

It felt like his shoulder was on fire. Blood splurted out, scattering around the table and vanishing after it touched the cloth. Will grunted in pain and took two steps back.

'Hey, hey, is that all you got?' the Blue Witch chirped, her smile now something else. 'Looks like someone finally wants to go to the golden land af-ter aaaallll...' She nonchalantly thrust forward her finger, digging it deep into the hole in Will's shoulder. 'Hey, you've got some really nice muscles, you know th - '

'Repeat this,' Will said. 'Kinzo did not have a rifle in his office.'

The Blue Witch's smile dropped. 'Huh?'

The wound in Will's shoulder swirled and reformed instantly, blasting the Blue Witch's finger away. 'The office is at the top of the mansion, right? And it's overlooking the rose garden, correct? So it would be just a simple matter for him to take a rifle he had stored earlier in his office, go to the window, and shoot the two women lying below...' Will brought forward his own finger, planting it firmly mere inches in front of the Blue Witch's face. '_In other words, Kinzo could have committed the murders without leaving the office! It is entirely possible for him to be the culprit of the second twilight!_'

'How about the disappearing rifles, then?' Bernkastel said, gazing into her tea from the side. 'And how about why Eva and Kyrie were in the rose garden in the first place?'

'One thing at a time,' Will said. 'Repeat this! _Kinzo did not kill Eva and Kyrie!_'

The Blue Witch blinked at his finger for a moment, then frowned and put her hand on her chin. 'So, that's how you play this game, huh? It's kinda fun, actually.'

'It's not supposed to be fun,' Will said sharply.

'It is, actually,' Bernkastel said. 'You're the only bad egg in this basket, you know...?'

'Oh, I see now,' The Blue Witch clapped her hands together in excitement. 'You're one of those bossy adults types who don't know how to have fun!'

'I'm...not.' Will's brain once again failed to keep up with her wandering thoughts.

'Come on,' The Blue Witch teased. 'When was the last time you played a game? I mean, a really, really fun game? Just because you work for the SSVD types and all, doesn't mean you can't be a kid every once in a while - '

'Shut up,' Will snapped, perhaps a little more curtly than intended, and was immediately sorry. The Blue Witch's expression froze into an expression of dismayed shock.

'Er,' Will said, about to utter an apology, but as he opened his mouth, she disappeared before his eyes. He stared meaninglessly at her empty spot in the air, feeling a heavy feeling in his stomach.

'That idiot,' Bernkastel said lightly, lapping at her cup like a cat. 'Really, Wright, you can be a mood killer at times.'

'You're worse,' Will muttered.

'Ah, but I'm not a handsome tall young man whom an innocent young girl might be attracted to, you know...?' she cackled shortly into her tea. 'Ah, Wright, you've broken many hearts in your time, haven't you?'

'This is ridiculous,' Will said to the empty air. He paced around aimlessly for a few minutes before settling in his chair. 'L-let's not get sidetracked. Resume the game.'

'You haven't solved the second twilight yet.'

'I'll make it up as I go along. By the way, I think I've solved the first twilight as well.'

Her dark eyes lifted slightly. 'You have?'

'It was simple, actually. I should have thought of it the moment I saw the blood on the chain.'

'Then why don't you show us the solution?'

'In mysteries, it's traditional for the detective to reveal everything after the end of the story,' Will said.

'Following all the conventions of the mystery genre? You really are a spoilsport.'

'This is a mystery,' Will demanded. 'Not fantasy, not a thriller, not a slice of life, not romance, not anything else. This is a plain and proper mystery. Sorry, Bernkastel, but you'll have to wait a little longer to ridicule me.'

* * *

><p>Nanjo was one of the first to recover. 'Everyone,' he said, rubbing the bald spot on his head. 'We have to go back inside. Standing around in this rain will only make us catch a cold.'<p>

Everyone stared blearily at him, slowly rousing themselves. One by one they stood up. 'Where to?' Kumasawa said, hugging her face with her hands.

'The parlor, I presume...'

'The parlor?' Krauss said.

'Yes, the parlor - '

'The parlor?' In a flurry of red Krauss darted forward, grabbing Nanjo's shoulders and shaking him like a ragdoll. 'The parlor? Are you mad? We were in the parlor just now and two people died. Do you want to be next?'

Nanjo swallowed. 'I, er...'

'The parlor's not safe,' Krauss rattled off, his eyes marbling about his face. 'We have to find somewhere else, a locked room, something, anything that isn't that goddamn parlor!'

'Master Krauss,' Kumasawa wailed.

'We - we can just lock a door or something,' Rosa muttered.

'It's all no good,' Battler echoed further down from the fence. 'Did anyone check...the bodies? Shannon and Kanon had master keys on them...'

Kumasawa burrowed her face deeper into her shaking palms. 'Oh no, no, the killer can kill us all, aiya...'

'No, he can't, kill us, I mean, fuck,' Gohda choked out.

'Nobody's going to get killed,' Nanjo said, looking away from the two bodies in the bushes. 'We just need to calm down, and...'

'We might just all die here,' Krauss said heavily, his voice gouging into everyone's skulls with every word.

Kumasawa, very weakly, began to sob. Nanjo raised his hands towards her, than dropped them again. No one made any move to go back inside the mansion.

'There does exist a room in which the master keys cannot open,' Genji said. All eyes darted to his rocky face.

'The Master's study.'

'Of course!' Nanjo said. 'It only has two keys, if I recall correctly.'

'The Master has one in his possession. I have the other,' Genji produced the the iron key in his hand, then folded it back into his pocket. 'If we keep both keys inside the study, I would assume it would be a locked room.'

'So that means we're safe?' Gohda cried, hardly daring to believe.

'Possibly.'

'The door is solid oak, right?' Battler said.

'It would take more than a rifle to penetrate it,' Nanjo said, and he actually smiled a little. 'If we lock ourselves in, and wait until the storm passes, I think we'll be alright.'

Kumasawa had stopped sobbing, and Nanjo seized the opportunity put his arm around her. 'Don't worry. We'll be safe. No one is going to get kill - '

'Heh.'

Rudolf and Hideyoshi were standing apart from the argument, crouching next to the bloody bodies. Rudolf was the one who had spoken. He stood up and stuck a cigarette in his mouth. He wasn't smiling anymore.

'Heh,' he said again, striding forwards, ignoring the weeping man beside him. 'This is a perfect time to confirm a theory of mine, actually.'

'Theory?' Rosa said.

'Kyrie taught me to flip over the chessboard,' Rudolf said, trying to snap his fingers and only managing a dull flap. 'Up till now the killer has been committing impossible murders. He or she wants to blame it on the Blue Witch. Ergo, the killer is one of us. And the most obvious suspect is dear old dad.'

'K-kinzo?'

'I haven't seen him at all since I stepped onto this godforsaken island. Probably because he's off somewhere murdering people. In other words, that fucking geezer doesn't have an alibi.'

He shot a dark look at Genji. 'And I'd doubt the word of a spineless wuss who probably helps his master jack off every night.'

'I am merely acting in the interests of the Ushiromiya family,' Genji said, remaining perfectly still.

'Fuck you,' Rudolf said, ignoring the shocked looks. 'My old man's the culprit.'

'R-rudolf,' Rosa ventured timidly. 'Father may be..er, whimsical and everything, but I don't think he would just...'

'Fuck off, Little Sis,' Rudolf said without so much as a sideways glance at her. 'and, anyway, even if dad's not the culprit, don't go frolicking around your fucking flowers just yet. After all, as things stand,' And that was when the grin finally flashed across his face, a ghastly row of teeth more animal that human. '**The culprit is one of us 18 on the island,** isn't it?'


	9. Gouge the Head

They stared at Rudolf like they were seeing him for the first time. Then, unconsciously, they began to shrink away from him.

'Genji!' Rudolf barked. 'Give me the key.'

Genji took a step backwards. 'I am afraid I cannot do that, Master Rudolf.'

'And why the hell not?'

'The Master left me specific instructions - '

'The Master this, the Master that,' Rudolf jerked his hands around his head, which would have been comical in other circumstances. 'The Master fucking this, the Master fucking that. Give me the fucking key, you fucking cocksucker.'

'Rudolf,' Nanjo swallowed. 'I think - '

'Shut the fuck up,' Rudolf strode over to Genji and grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt. 'Give me the fucking key.'

'I assure you, I am perfectly capable of opening the Master's study myself.'

'Fuck that, you're as spineless as fuck, won't even breathe unless your Master says so - '

'R-rudolf,' Rosa squeaked. 'Stop it.'

'Finally decided to grow a backbone, eh, Little Sis? Well, fuck off. The point is, Genji here is about as untrustworthy as a pile of shit, and you're all fucking bonkers if you can entrust him with the only key that opens our safehouse.'

Krauss came forward, wringing his hands, the pale shadow over his face having reasserted its position. 'Y-you can't just manhandle the family's most trusted servant like that.'

Rudolf looked at him, and laughed in his face. 'Are you fucking serious, Big Bro? Get into the fucking whiney corner and stay there.'

Not even Rudolf had ever spoken to the future family head like that before. Krauss stumbled backwards, shocked, and fell into a pathetic heap once more.

Rudolf's hands were still at Genji's throat, and the servant had made no attempt to break free. This seemed to make Rudolf even angrier than before.

'So do I get the key, or not?' Rudolf shouted.

'If you are so insistent, Master Rudolf, perhaps I can make a special arrangement.'

'Wipe that - that - look off your face and give me the fucking key, then.'

As Genji reached into his pocket, still encased in Rudolf's grip, a small voice objected.

'I don't think you should have the key,' Rosa murmured.

'What was that?" Rudolf whirled on her, causing her to flinch slightly.

'W-what I mean is...erm,' Rosa alternately lowered her head and then lifted her head up. 'You're unreliable.'

'What Aunt Rosa's saying, old man,' Battler said from his position on the railing, 'Is that you're a train without rails. In other words. I wouldn't trust you with that key.'

Rudolf slowly closed his eyes, and then opened them again. 'Fine,' he said.

Battler wasn't even facing his father. He was still staring into the rainy ground.

'Fine,' Rudolf said again. 'If you guys think I'm a fuckup, then I'm a fuckup, then fine. I would've though the same in your shoes, anyway.'

He took a step back, and then another step away. 'I'm going off. Yeah. Don't forget to send a postcard. Coming, Battler?'

'No,' Battler said immediately.

'Can't blame a man for trying,' Rudolf tried to grin. He looked at the crowd. Rudolf looked at them. He was suddenly conscious of far apart they were standing.

There seemed to be nothing more to say. He could see their judgement echoing through their eyes. He was about to turn his back on them and walk, when suddenly a new voice spoke.

'This ain't right,' Hideyoshi said. It was the first time he had lifted his head from Eva's body.

Rudolf spun towards him. 'What?'

'You - you guys can't just send him off like this,' Hideyoshi said. 'You can't. He'll be alone.'

'Shut up,' Rudolf said.

Hideyoshi winced, but continued to plead with the others. 'Come on. You can't leave him alone. He might - might get - '

'Shot in the head like my wife?' Rudolf said. 'Already fucking occurred to me, thanks very much.'

Hideyoshi looked at the small group in front of him, and they avoided his eyes. They didn't say anything, and that was an answer enough. Hideyoshi's shoulders slumped.

'Is this teary reunion over already?' Rudolf growled. 'Can I go now?'

'No, Hideyoshi said. 'You're staying here.'

'What the fuck is your game, Hideyoshi? I'm leaving, and that's that. Bye.'

'Then I'm coming with you.'

Rudolf flinched. 'What the fuck.'

* * *

><p>After searching for what seemed like months, Will finally found her. She was floating in the sea of Fragments, her arms and legs spread out like a starfish, simply gazing at the tiny glittering crystals that dotted the surface of the ocean.<p>

'Hey,' Will said, swimming up to her. She jumped, and spun around.

'Don't sneak up on me like that,' she said sorely.

'Was I disturbing something?'

'Yes! I was just thinking of what to write in my letter...I mean, I was just stargazing! What is it you want?'

'A letter?' Will said, and inwardly slapped himself when her frown deepened. It wasn't his aim to cause her any further distress, he knew, but he still hadn't gotten rid of his old SSVD habits.

'What I write to Rokkenjima is none of your business,' she said, and then covered her mouth.

'Letters to Rokkenjima?' Will said, and immediately bit down on his lip.

'It's none of your business! Someone there really likes me, and it's no problem if we're pen pals - and of course I don't mean we're lovers or anything,' the Blue Witch's voice took on an abrupt rattly tone. 'It's nothing like that, of course, I don't like him the same way - ' her face went red and she fell silent.

Once more, as his headache rose up again, Will wondered if the Blue Witch was specifically designed just to cause him as much trouble as possible. 'Come on. Bernkastel sent me to get you back to the game.'

'Oh, the game,' she said softly. 'You sounded like you didn't want to play it anymore.'

'I sound like it all the time. Don't worry too much about it.'

'So...you'll still play with me?'

'Yeah,' Will said, and couldn't help but feel relief at the smile that lit up her face. The gloomy sea around them melted away, and they were back in the hall.

'Are you sure you still want to play, though?' The Blue Witch said, her smile faltering. 'I thought you hated guts.'

'Yeah. I do. I'd appreciate if you didn't murder everyone in twisted horribly ways, but I'm guessing you will, anyway.'

'I-it's not like I want to.'

'Then?'

'I'm just bringing them to the Golden Land. To get in, you have to die.'

'Hmph,' Will grunted in displeasure, wondering whether he should pursue the subject, when Bernkastel faded into existence and decided for him.

'Enough sentimentality, Wright,' she said. 'And you too, piece. If you dare try anything like that ever again, I'll send you to waste away at the bottom of Oblivion.'

'Warning noted, Master!' The Blue Witch threw a salute, and Will could see she was more or less back to her old self again. Bernkastel's tail twitched in irritation at this, and Will actually grinned a little at that.

'Start the fourth twilight,' Bernkastel ordered.

'Coming right up, Master!' The Blue Witch turned to Will. 'After we finish this game, I'll throw a party in the Golden Land, and you'll be the guest of honor, okay?'

'Sure.'

* * *

><p>When all of them - or at least, almost all of them returned to the mansion, Genji closed the door. 'Should I lock this?' he said.<p>

'Better safe then sorry, I guess,' Nanjo said, and Genji did so. The door clicked shut, sealing them from the storm outside. They began the long trek upstairs. To her surprise, Rosa found herself leading the way, the rifle Rudolf had dropped in her hands. Rudolf had gave to her as he left, saying in that offhand way of his, to take care of Battler. And then he and Hideyoshi had vanished into the rain, presumably towards the guesthouse, although Rosa knew the two of them wouldn't be any safer there than anywhere else, except maybe here, where they were all walking together.

Battler was quiet the whole way, Krauss more frighteningly so. In lighter times Rosa had seen them the most vocal of the family, and their pathetic shells made her hands shake. She tried to keep the rifle steady, covering all the darkened doorways of the silent mansion.

As they crossed the main hall, the Blue Witch's face popped out at them. Her dress reminded Rosa of one she used to own whens he was younger, reminded her of innocent times, and she finally managed to point the rifle forwards. The same couldn't be said of Kumasawa, though, who shrieked.

Everyone jumped at her scream, looking ready to bolt any minute. Gohda actually took a half-step in the direction of the kitchen, his face a frenzied mask.

'I-I'm sorry,' Kumasawa sniffed, drying her eyes into her shirt. Nanjo immediately appeared at her side, and whispered a few comforting words to her. As everyone slowly began to calm down, Genji broke off and walked over to the epitaph beneath the portrait.

'Genji,' Rosa said warningly.

'Forgive me, Master Rosa,' Genji said, bowing his head. 'I simply recalled something the Master said a few years ago, that reminded me that the epitaph is actually a riddle.'

'A riddle?' Nanjo said, walking over to join him. 'Ah, I remember. There was a rumor that Kinzo designed this epitaph as a riddle, to test the Ushiromiya family and see if they were worthy of inheriting the Headship.'

'But I thought the culprit was using the epitaph for murder,' Gohda said.

'The epitaph may be a clue, then,' Rosa said, bending over to look at it, keeping the rifle tightly clutched to her chest. 'What happens if you solve the riddle?'

'Only Kinzo knows. If I could hazard a guess, it would be - '

A shrill scream split down up above and cut Nanjo off. Everyone froze. It was unmistakable a shriek, filled with pure terror, like the one they had heard before. It was unmistakably Kumasawa's.

Nanjo was the first to recover, and looked around wildly. 'Where's - where's Kumasawa?'

Rosa thrust her rifle forward. 'Wait - you mean - where is she?'

'Her scream came from upstairs,' Gohda swallowed.

'But she was here just now!'

'Well she's not here now!'

'But she's upstairs!' Gohda protested weakly. 'You all heard her.'

A low chuckle broke into their thoughts. With every passing event, a little piece of Battler seemed to have scattered to the winds. 'It's another magical murder,' he said, throwing his head back to face the ceiling. 'I don't know how the hell Kumasawa got up there, but it looks like we have to go up to find her. Just according to his fucking plan.'

'Kumasawa...' nanjo closed his mouth with a snap, and squared his shoulders. 'We have to find her.'

'Wait - stick together - I'll go in front. Everyone follow, and - '

'Yes, yes, but hurry!' Nanjo was already jogging up the stairs. The confused mass of survivors lumbered after him, struck numb with pure terror.

* * *

><p>It took them less than a minute for them to reach the top floor. The survivors dashed from corridor to corridor, bunching together, screaming Kumasawa's name.<p>

'She's not here,' Rosa said.

'She must be,' Nanjo said.

'She's vanished!' Krauss croaked. 'Disappeared! The Blue Witch!'

'Come back,' Rosa said, for Krauss had been stumbling away from the safety of their group.

'Well, she's not here,' Battler grunted. 'But there's one place we haven't looked. Grandfather's study.'

Genji poked his head out from one of the empty rooms they had been searching. 'Are you suggesting, Master Battler, that the Master has committed homicide?'

'I'm not suggesting anything,' Battler said. 'Or maybe I am. Fuck, I don't know.'

'In any case, going to the study seems to be our best course of action,' Nanjo said heavily. 'For all we know Kumasawa could be inside, but she could be alive and safe. Maybe Kinzo let her in.'

'Or maybe he killed her,' Rosa muttered, and then caught herself. A few murders ago, she wouldn't have dreamed of saying this, but it seemed reality was slipping away from her, and everyone else sooner than she thought. She tried to calm herself, failed, and then pointed her gun towards the direction of the study. 'Alright. Let's go.'

The door to the study was at the end of a long corridor. It was silent, and radiated a quiet menace. This door opened only a few times a month. Rosa hoped, for everyone's sake, that it would open with happy tidings for the first time tonight.

Genji stepped forward, and rapped twice on the door. 'Master,' he called out.

There was shuffling from inside the room. Something got knocked over.

'Master, we must require your assistance.'

Something was stumbling towards the door. Genji stepped back. A moment later the door swung open, and Kinzo's emaciated face poked out. He looked drained, weakened, his skin just hanging on his face. His illness had taken its toll.

'What do you want?' he snapped.

'As I have informed you earlier, Master...' Genjo coughed delicately. 'There has been several murders on this island. Certain recent events have led us to - '

'You all want to hide in here, is that it?' he glared at them with sunken eyes.

'That is correct.'

'Well, you can't.'

'Why?' Rosa said.

Kinzo shifted his eyes towards her. 'Because you're a failure, my dear daughter. And the rest of you. Krauss, you look as spineless as ever. Where is Eva?'

'Dead,' Battler said. 'She's dead, and we will be, old man, if you don't let us in.'

'Huh. She was, by the far the most promising. A pity she didn't take care of herself. What a shame.'

'Is this just a game to you?' Rosa exploded. Her rifle swung slightly closer to his face. If Kinzo was surprised by her outburst, he did not show it.

'So now you ask me for help,' he said. 'Now you want me to shelter you, take you under my wing, protect you against the evils of the world. Only now, when I'm rotting and dying away, alone in my cramped office, do you ask for my help.'

'Father - '

'All my life!' Kinzo roared, 'All my life, I've had to deal with fools, idiots, and the collective stupidity of the human race! And what do I get to show for all of it? What do I get for eighty years of struggle? A painful, slow death! And now you want to ask me for help! What, do you people think you could end up carved up like Kumasawa over there,' he cackled. 'Finally, you understand the meaning of death - '

'Kinzo,' Nanjo yelped. 'You said - Kumasawa got - '

'Carved up, yes,' Kinzo nodded. 'What, you didn't know?'

They all shook their heads.

'You didn't see her when you came in?' Kinzo smirked. 'Why don't you turn around.'

They did. Kumasawa was pinned to the wall behind him, crucified. Both her palms had been nailed to the plaster with giant stakes. a third one protruded from her head. Apart from that, Kumasawa looked relatively peaceful. Her eyes were closed, and her clothes were mostly devoid of blood. The thin slit on her throat was what had killed her.

Gohda was the first one to bolt. Crying out, he pushed past Kinzo and stumbled into the office. The rest followed after him, their minds reeling in animalistic confusion, and the door slammed shut behind them. The auto lock clicked into place, sealing them away from Kumasawa's body.


	10. A Self Indulgent Letter from Bernkastel

Everything was so boring around here. But since Mr Will arrived, it's felt like sunshine all round! If only I could take him - and his huge, strong muscles - to the Golden Land!

_But he has to submit to you first._

Of course he will, Master! After all, I'm as cute as rainbow unicorns sprouting from the sun! I can even make that happen! I can grant any wish for him! Chocolate covered cupcakes on a quiet afternoon, or - or - cheddar pizza -

_Some people desire truth more than anything else._

But I'm cute right? How did that go...here - nipah! See? I can nipah!

_You're really annoying. But that's not the point of this letter. I've just come to express my disappointment that not many people are bothering to figure my mystery out. What, is it boring or something?_

But Master, it's not some mystery novel! It's a Golden -

_The other alternative, is that you think the mystery is simply too hard. I'd prefer to believe that. Ah, humans are really pathetic creatures, you know...? They're so annoying._

Whaat? Master, how could you say such things -

_Not as annoying as you, though. Get out._

Come on, Master, don't be so meeeeaaaaannn...

_..._

_There. She's gone._

_Annoying little brat, isn't she?_

_She reminds me of Lambdadelta._

_But the difference between her and - _

_Never mind. I digress._

_The mystery seems to be a bit too hard for some of you to figure out (or too boring - what a waste), so I'll be a bit more merciful. I'll give you three more red stakes. _

_Here's the first one: _**There is only one main culprit for this game.**

_Second:_ **There are no more than three killers.**

_Third:_ **There is only one accomplice. **

_That should narrow it down for you. If you still can't form a theory, well, then, I really, truly give up on you people this time, you know...?_

_Don't take my stakes lightly. It's rare that I hand out free weapons. The Blue Witch is a hard opponent to beat, after all, but I'm sure some of you can do it._

_Stab her. Tear her guts out. Blow out her brains. I'll be looking forward to seeing the expression on her face as you work the stakes down her throat. I really do hate that little brat._

_I'm sure Will does too. Alright, I think that's all for now. Use the stakes wisely. I'll be resuming the game shortly._


	11. fAN tAsY

_I may not normally seem so, but I really, and I mean really, am very easily irritated._

_Which is why it pains me to listen to your so called 'theories' that directly contradict the red truth. Just because you're so utterly blind doesn't give you the authority to ignore the red like some sort of rebel. But, fine. I get it. You'll need time to consolidate your conclusions. At the very end of this tale, I'll compile the red into on nice, easy page for you fools to read in one sitting._

_Are you finally satisfied?_

_God(pardon the expression), you people are really irritating sometimes. That brat and Wright are testing my patience as well. I swear, one of these days, I'm just going to...explode._

* * *

><p>'Now that you've separated two people from the main group,' Will said. 'You've made things much easier.'<p>

'Really? Are you sure?' Beside him, the Blue Witch grinned. 'I'm not that stupid, you know!'

'Here,' Bernkastel said, splaying her hand and unleashing a stream of red. '**Genji locked the mansion's main door. In short, Rudolf and Hideyoshi could not have entered the mansion.**'

'Either of them could have swiped a master key from one of the dead servants.'

'**For this game, only the servants will use their master keys.**'

'And the culprit returns to Kinzo, huh,' Will grunted. 'Seems that you're determined to pin everything on him.'

'There's no other explanation, Mr Will!' the Blue Witch said. 'Unless you think I did it, of course.'

Will was about to reply a snapping retort, but he reigned it back in time. He was going to say she didn't exist. He should have said it, but for some reason he hadn't. This irked him. Somehow Bernkastel had planned this, as usual.

'Don't get so upset so soon, Wright,' Bernkastel cooed, 'Even if there's no alibis for everybody, you still can't explain how Kumasawa teleported several floors above them in a few seconds, you know...?'

'As a matter of fact, I think I do,' Will snapped his fingers. 'The magical aspect of this, at least, is by far the easiest thing you've ever thrown at me.'

'Well then, Wright, what are you waiting for?'

'I'll save it for later,' Will said. 'The fourth twilight's no problem. On with the game.'

Bernkastel's tail twitched again. 'I don't like your attitude, Wright.'

'Same here. On with the game.'

'You're really smart, Mr Will.' the Blue Witch added, almost as an afterthought.

* * *

><p>It hardly seemed real that they could have a chance at leaving the island alive anymore. They were surrounded by four walls and a sturdy locked door, but they might as well be surrounded by paper. If the culprit could just whisk away Kumasawa in seconds right under their noses, there was anything he or she could do. Anything.<p>

'Hey, old man,' Battler said, after things had calmed down somewhat. 'Do you keep any alchohol in here?'

Kinzo stared at him for a moment, and then burst into laughter. 'In the left drawer.'

Battler stepped over to the desk and began rummaging through it. Kinzo grinned madly at the rest.

'What're you so sad about?' he said.

'Kinzo...' Nanjo murmured. He had his head in his hands. 'Please...'

'Oh, I know why,' Kinzo had looked frail before, but now he darted over to Nanjo's side in seconds, his eyes flashing madly. 'Kumasawa was all chopped up, right? And the rest - Eva and the rest. Don't tell me Rudolph's dead too?'

'He's not,' Battler said, opening a small flask. He sat on the desk and drank.

'At least one of us has guts, then. Don't count on him surviving through the night, though. Don't count on any of us leaving here alive,' he smacked his lips and laughed a little. 'Come on, why so glum? The hour of our lives is upon us!'

'We're going to die!' Gohda warbled.

'Yes, that's true,' Kinzo said. 'You say it like it's a bad thing.'

'What - ?' Rosa couldn't bear the sadistic grin much longer. 'What are you saying?'

'Perhaps I can clarify Master's statements,' Genji said, standing up. 'He is suggesting our deaths will bring us salvation from the chains of life.'

'Huh?'

Genji swept his arm over to the portrait in the corner. The Blue Witch watched over them all, triumphant in her soft, sickly smile. 'The Blue witch will take us all to the Golden Land. So, we don't need to worry about dying. The Blue Witch will release us from Life.'

Hearing Genji talk like a 12th century cultist did nothing to assuage anyone's fears.

'Genji...even you think the Blue Witch exists?' Nanjo said.

'I am only repeating the legend,' Genji said carefully, before Kinzo rammed into him and threw an arm around his shoulder.

'Of course he does! We all do! What's there left to believe in, right? Don't tell me you believe in something like money, or believe in - god forbid - people. I'm sick and tired of this planet. But the Blue Witch...there's something to believe in. How could you not fall for that angelic smile?'

'Her smile's nice,' Kruass said, to Rosa's horror.

'Hmm? What was that, my worthless son? Don't tell me you've finally grown a backbone!'

'Krauss!' Rosa said.

'I'm sorry..I mean...I don't know what to believe anymore. The murders...they were...impossible...'

'But that doesn't mean...'

'A year ago,' Krauss ploughed on, 'I was in my office. I was doing normal things. Typing letters. Then I found a note on my desk. It just appeared. No one had put it there, it just appeared. It said three words. Believe in me.'

Kinzo roared with laughter. No one else did. Krauss didn't seem to notice.

'I thought it was a joke - don't they always do? - but then the door slammed behind me. I got up, tried to pull it open, but even though the knob turned it couldn't budge. I was trapped. I was scared. And then I turned around, and the note - remember the note? It had vanished from the table. So I went over to search for it, and then I looked back, and it was lying in front of the door. But this time it was stained with something red. I thought it was jam. It was probably something else.'

'Someone laughed from behind the door. It was a girl's cackle, a witch's cackle. Then the door swung open, and I ran out. I don't know what happened that day. But I never went to that room again,' Krauss shuddered. 'I was foolish. Weak. I refused to believe. But now...'

'Krauss, you can't be serious - '

'You don't know what it's like!' he shouted at her. 'You don't know what it was like, just cooped up in that office, feeling that terror, that terror, that I was - so - so small, and she was leagues above me, and - '

'That's enough sob stories now,' Kinzo said. 'Still, welcome to the family, Krauss!'

Krauss, his back hunched, lumbered over to them. His face had turned grey. Everyone stared at the three of them clustered in front of the door, the heretics of reality - Kinzo, Genji, and Krauss.

'But...' Nanjo raised a weak finger.

'But? But what? Speak up, old friend!'

Nanjo left his mouth hanging in mid-air.

'You can't,' Kinzo rasped. 'You can't say anything.'

'Kinzo, she can't exist.'

'She does!' Kinzo bellowed, shaking the windows with his voice. 'She does, and don't you dare say otherwise! She - she - '

His voice cut off in a strangled gurk. His face fell apart, and he launched into a coughing fit, his hands scrabbling to loosen his collar.

'Master!' Genji rushed to aid him, ushering to him to his chair. Kinzo's body seemed to shrink as he continued to hack out his lungs. The illness had finally caught up with him. No matter how hard Kinzo had tried to run, the illness had finally caught up with him.

Finally, Kinzo stopped. He slowly got to his feet, swaying slightly, pushing Genji away when he came to help.

'She has to exist,' he grunted, wiping the specks of blood off his tie. 'I've spent eighty years. Eighty years, dealing with all this crap. Dealing with all you vultures. I deserve this.'

'She doesn't exist, old man.'

The bottle danced across the floor as Battler jumped off the desk. Kinzo glared at him. Battler glared at Kinzo, raised a hand, and pointed.

'Witches and magic don't exist.'

'They do.'

'They don't.'

'Then prove it, my beloved grandson. Prove it.'

'Alright. I have a few theories.' For the first time since the others had seen him, Battler wore no expression on his face. No anger, no hate, no sadness. He just looked incredibly tired.

'You dare - ?' Kinzo rasped, his lips curling up. 'You dare, Grandson, tarnish my loooove?'

'I guess so.'

'Then come!' Kinzo his body forwards, arcing his arms out as if to embrace his grandson. 'I'll tear you down to the ground Battleeer! How dare, how dare you tarnish heeeeee - '

The world flashed grey, and everything froze. Kinzo's cape, Rosa's sweat, Battler's finger - they all froze up, as if time had stopped. The scene shimmered, then whirled in on itself, and then Will stood up from his chair.

* * *

><p>'We need to talk,' Will said.<p>

As the last fragments of reality faded away, Bernkastel stood up from her own chair. 'You'd better have a good reason for this, Wright.'

She glanced around. 'And you've shut the Blue Witch out of here, I see. You'd better have an extremely good reason.'

Her tail was practically shimmering now, and Will knew that just one twitch could blast him to Oblivion. Curiously, though, his desire to set this matter straight overrided all of this. It was against every SSVD doctrine, to challenge a higher being when you had no chance of overpowering her.

Will was about to do just that.

'About the Blue Witch,' Will said. 'Why did you create her?'

'Why?' Bernkastel narrowed her eyes. 'Because I needed a culprit for my game.'

'Cut the crap. Why did you make her this way?'

'I'll give you ten seconds to articulate, Wright.'

'Why did you make her such a Mary Sue?'

'You think she is?' Bernkastel smirked, but only a little. 'It's just like you, Wright, to see Mary Sues in every corner - '

'She's no ordinary one. She's Sue-i-fied to the highest possible levels. She's tailored to be a tsundere. Whatever you call her. She's a archetype, a cliche. Why did you create her?'

'That's some horrible things you're saying about her, Wright,' Bernkastel said, leaving the table. 'What would she think about you - '

'Why did you create her?'

'You're getting awfully liberal with your interruptions.'

'Why did you create her?' Will said, edging around the table to meet Bernkastel's face.

'Alright, I admit it. she's a Mary Sue.'

'You still haven't answered my question.'

'Does it really need explaining?' Bernkastel marched past Will to the other end of the table. 'Doesn't everybody want a perfect savior to arrive for them in shining armor? Rokkenjima wanted someone like that, so I gave it to them.'

Will kept pace with her, training his eyes on her back. 'But she doesn't exist.'

'Do things have to exist to make it real?'

'Yes.'

'Then you're saying the Blue Witch is a fake. That she doesn't exist.'

Will remained silent.

'You're saying that she's just an artificial construct, just a blob of concept floating across the sea, and that she's not a person. Am I right so far?'

'In some aspects.'

'You really can break a girl's heart, you know...?'

'Why did you create a piece like her?' Will said. 'You're tormenting them with something that's fake. The taller the tower, the harder it'll fall, right? You're using her to torture them, and she doesn't even know it.'

'Do I even need a reason?' Bernkastel did an abrupt turn and started circling round the table. 'I just like to torture people. Haven't you learned that by now?'

'Why? Just because they're pieces?'

'No, actually,' Bernkastel suddenly stopped, and Will halted in his tracks as well.

'I consider pieces to be the same level on us, actually,' Bernkastel said, her face turned away. 'It's true, we wield more power than them, but ultimately I hold them in the same regard as I do with everyone else.'

'Then why - '

'We'll all in the same boat, aren't we?' Bernkastel's voice had grown unusually, dangerously quiet. 'They're all in a sea of Oblivion, but we're in a bigger sea. And then some others are in an even bigger sea than ours. They're whole seas piled up on top of each other. It's a frightening thought.'

The hollow hall fell silent for a while.

'Why do you like to tear out guts?' Will said.

Bernkastel whirled round, and there was a grin on her face stretched so wide it cracked her face in two. '**Because everything is worthless**.'

The world shattered around them, and darkness swallowed them up. Cold tendrils snaked through Will's body, pinning him to the air, and his heart plummeted down to the bottom of his ribcage. He tried to breathe, but he only could manage a few strangled gasps. All the while, Bernkastel was wearing that demented grin.

'When you really hate something, you want to destroy something, you knoooooooow...?' she cackled, her grin growing more deformed by the second. 'You just want to destroy everything around you, you knooooooooow...?'

Will struggled with all his might, but he couldn't get rid of the chilling darkness, which started invading his body cell by cell. He stared pleadingly at Bernkastel, and she laughed in his face.

'Arrgghhh, you've made me angry, you knooooooow...?' her voice came out horribly distorted, as she laughed and laughed, the darkness writhing around her. 'I hate people who make me angry, you knoooooooooow? Why don't you just die, Wriiighht? Why don't you just face the daaaRRRRKKKkkneeeeSSSS?'

And then, as the darkness plunged its talons into Will's brain, he felt his being slip away. And then he was gone.


	12. Dead Angle

He didn't know how long he had been floating here. He didn't know whether he was floating, flying, or whether it was all in his head. He didn't know where he was. All his senses - sight touch, and everything else - had grounded to a dead halt. He couldn't hear. He couldn't feel. He just lost himself to Oblivion.

At some point in time, he found himself in the middle of the main hall in the Rokkenjima mansion. He didn't know how he got there. It was like a dream - his conscienceness had drifted apart, and he had woken up in a completely different place.

How he got here was inconsequential. The portrait, the painting, the smile of the Blue Witch burning into the back of his eyeballs, that was what encapsulated his entire being. And, even as he watched, the girl stepped out.

'Hi, Mr Will,' she said, but she wasn't smiling anymore. Will wanted to tell her to smile, but found he couldn't speak. The Blue Witch continued to walk towards him, hands extended, that unnatural, almost mournful expression on her face.

'Why don't you believe in me?' she whispered.

_I do, _Will tried to say but his throat seemed to be clogged up. He tried again. _I do. _This time he uttered a guttural sound, not unlike that of a pig. The Blue Witch seemed to take this as an answer enough.

'I was willing to do anything,' she said. 'Anything, for you, as long as you loved me...'

Will found his hands rising up to his waist, and he thought for a frenzied moment that he was going to shake hands with her. But the monster inside him was not so merciful. Helpless, horrified, Will could only watch as his hands, with a mind of their own, reached over and wrapped themselves over the Blue Witch's throat.

_Stop it, _Will screamed at his nerves, but they wouldn't respond. The other part of his brain, the other Will, had taken control. The hands glowed a fiery red.

They started squeezing.

Her eyes were the first ones to go. They slipped out of their sockets and bounced around the floor, leaving two bloody caverns. Then her tongue shot out, writhing wildy, before finally being struck limp. It dropped out of her mouth. She still had that same weary expression of acceptance, without the smile.

Will wanted to scream, but he couldn't do even that. His red hands finished their work by crushing her throat completely, obliterating her windpipe into dust, and severing her spine from her head. As he watched the blue hair fall to the ground, bloody and mangled, he thought he would go mad. Already the tendrils of insanity and darkness, the chains of nihilism and despair, they were all creeping up onto him like a fast-spreading plague. And then, finally, he found the strength to open his mouth and scream.

* * *

><p>Something was nudging. Someone's foot was kicking at his head. He opened his eyes, and saw white marble.<p>

'Welcome back, Wright' a familiar voice said. 'How was Oblivion?'

His hands worked over the smooth marble floor, confirming it was real. The witch above him laughed. Will forced himself to his knees, found the back of the chair with a flailing hand and began the painful process of hoisting himself up. He felt like he was dead. He felt like he had died a hundred times before that.

'How...' he croaked, struggling to recover his voice. 'How...long...'

'A few million years' Bernkastel said. 'Are you done moping around yet? I need to resume the game.'

Will tried to remember what Bernkastel was talking about. 'The...game...' Slowly, it all came back together.

The Blue Witch was slumped against one of the walls, watching Will's progress to his feet. He caught her eyes, and she immediately turned away.

'You didn't shut her out last time, by the way,' Bernkastel said, and the ghost of her old insanity crossed her face. 'I kept her in, just that you didn't see her. She heard the whole thing. Are you ready to resume the game already?'

Will put his hand over his head, which was pounding like a ten-ton jackhammer. He didn't want to play the game anymore. He didn't want to think about the Blue Witch. He just wanted to sleep.

A chain snaked out from underneath the table, wrapping around his leg and forcing him down on the chair. Too weak to resist, Will turned his bleary eyes to Bernkastel, who was grinning like a demon.

'We'll resume the game now,' she said, 'If that's okay with you.'

It wasn't.

* * *

><p>Rudolf had never seen so much rain in his life. Even living for over forty years - those long, and tiring years - the rain came down harder than he ahd ever seen it. It was as if the heavens themselves were weeping over the tragedy that had happened on this day.<p>

'Ya alright, Rudolf?' Hideyoshi said from behind him.

'Shut up,' Rudolf grunted, taking out a cigarette and lighting it. It had since lost his taste, and all he was getting from it now was just poisonous nicotine.

'Ah - you should smoke too much, Rudolf. You could catch cancer, or something like that.'

'I know,' Rudolf said. 'What's your game, Hideyoshi?'

'What's what game?'

Rudolf spun around. 'I may not look it, but I am a pretty shrewd guy. Even back home, in business. I did the same. I got my angles covered, checked behind me every ten seconds, treaded carefully. It's how I've survived, with Big Bro, Big Sis and my old man constantly on my backs. I've honed my instincts to thier sharpest potential.'

Hideyoshi blinked, and then smiled. 'That sounds like hard work, Rudolf.'

'You bet it is. All my life, my instincts tell me what to do. Until now. I can't figure out your goddamn game. Just what are you planning?'

'You shouldn't be so high-strung all the time. It's unhealthy.'

'I know it fucking is,' Rudolf finally gave up smoking, plucking the cigarette out of his mouth and tossing it away. 'Eva's the same. She must have been a terrible wife, huh.'

'No - no she wasn't,' Hideyoshi allowed his eyes to glaze over. 'Sure, she could be...overbearing at times, but when things really got down to it, she cared for everyone. Even you.'

'That lucky, huh? I suppose I can believe it. Kyrie...she was a dame, but, sometimes living her felt like dancing across crocodiles. Which is both a good thing and a bad thing,' Rudolf sighed. 'Wouldn't want to get soft in marriage, now, would we?'

They fell silent for a while, reflecting on their lives.

'If you, by any chance, aren't the culprit,' Rudolf. 'You''d better race back home tomorrow and live a damn good life. If you don't get killed first.'

'Yeah...but it'll be hard without Eva.'

'And it'll be hard without Kyrie. Battler, too. That poor kid probably hates the shit out of me now. I hope he makes it.'

Once again, silence reigned. Each man pondered on his individual losses, weighing them up against the impact on their lives.

'The cousin's room is upstairs, right?' Hideyoshi said, standing up.

'Yeah. Where it all started, it's all up there.'

'I want to see George.'

Rudolf glanced at him. 'What, you sentimental, or something?'

'Call me what ya like, but I want to see him. Not much point moping around here anyway. You coming?'

'I don't have anything else to do,' Rudolf shrugged. 'Sure, why not.'

They walked out of the sitting room and ascended the stairs. Halfway up the landing they were greeted by the portrait which housed the girl they knew only too well - The Blue Witch.

'So what do ya think?' Hideyoshi murmured, almost distractedly. 'Ya think the legend holds true? That she's the one doing the killing?'

'Fuck no. Witches don't exist.'

'If she thinks killing is right, then I'm no friend of her's, either.'

'You know, Hideyoshi, in the Western's, it's always the nice guy who turns out to be homicidal.'

'What are ya saying?'

'I'm saying, Hideyoshi,' Rudolf said, throwing an arm over him, 'That if you ever try anything funny on me I'll snap your fucking neck.'

* * *

><p>The crime scene was exactly where they had left it, with the door yawning open and the chain lying broken onto the floor. Hideyoshi, very gently, pushed the door open. He switched on the lights.<p>

The six bodies were silent. Blankets had since been thrown over them, rendering the corpses ever more inhuman. Hideyoshi drew in a deep breath adn let it out in a sigh.

'So,' Rudolf said. 'You going to see his body, or what?'

Hideyoshi stepped forwards, and gingerly picked up one of the blankets. The light fell on George's face for the first time since in ten hours. Hideyoshi left the blanket such that it was covering his neck, so that George could almost look like he was simply sleeping.

'Done yet?' Rudolf said. 'Found your enlightenment or whatever it is that you people do when you look at dead bodies?'

Hideyoshi's shoulders slumped. 'Actually, to be honest I feel just as terrible.'

'Now you're finally getting the hang of how things work, my friend.'

'I still don't get why he was...killed.'

'Hmm?' Rudolf was already preparing to go.

'I mean, killing just one person is something I might be able to understand. But...to kill everyone single one of us? And randomly?' Hideyoshi drew the blanket up to his sons face and patted it, once. 'I just don't understand how anyone could do that.'

Rudolf shrugged. 'He's just a psycho, I guess.'

'How did he - or she - manage to get in here, though...they were locked in by a chain, right?'

'Yeah.'

'Did he pass through walls, or something?' Hideyoshi tried to chuckle. 'Maybe he really is a witch.'

Rudolf glanced at him sharply. 'Hey. Don't go joking around like that.'

'S-sorry,' Hideyoshi's chuckle died out as quickly as it had started. 'It's just...just a habit. Whenever things are looking down, and everyone's sad, I just - try to make everyone happy.'

'That's fucking retarded.' Rudolf said. 'Let's get going.'

Hideyoshi cast one last look at his son buried under the blanket, and turned away.

As they left the room, Rudolf suddenly stood up straight, as if stuck by a sudden idea. 'Hey, Hideyoshi.'

'Yeah?'

'About Natsuhi's murder - she didn't have a neck wound or anything like the cousins, did she?'

Hideyoshi's winced at the memory. 'No - but blood was all over the place.'

'Come to think of it, the cousin's murder was pretty clean. It's pretty improbable the killer murdered them in their beds when it was still early, so I think he placed the bodies there. Almost like he was tidying the bodies up. He even put Kanon and Shannon in their chairs and cleaned all traces of blood. It was a clean murder. Like a signature of sorts.'

'But Natushi...'

'Exactly my point. Natsuhi - and Big Sis and Kyrie, for that matter - they were just sprawled about. Blood everywhere. No clean cuts to the neck like before. It doesn't follow the pattern. We also have to take - '

* * *

><p>' - Kumasawa's body,' Battler said. By looking at him, no one could tell if he as aware he now had the attention of everyone in the room. He seemed like he was speaking to himself. 'She breaks up the pattern as well. The three murders before that was messy, but this one was a 'clean' one. Her body was prepared, in other words. A clean cut to the throat, most traces of the blood removed, and put in a theatrical position.'<p>

'You still haven't explained a thing, you fool,' Kinzo barked, his eyes stretched wide.

'Hold your horses, old man. As I was saying. The inconsistency in the murders could be a clue. The killer killed Kumasawa and the cousins the same way, but didn't "clean up" for the other murders. There could be two reasons why he did this.'

Battler held up two fingers. 'One, the killers' murder went wrong. He planned to make a clean murder, but for some reason - maybe the victim fought back, or maybe his knife slipped, or whatever - the murder didn't go according to plan. So he was forced to kill the victim is a messier way, and had to leave without cleaning up the crime scene.'

'You do know,' Rosa said, 'That all this is just wobbly guesswork.'

'Hold on, Aunt Rosa. The second reason for the inconsistency, is that the killer didn't kill his victims directly. He would have just slit his victims throats if he could, but since it's become apparent that he wanted to create more 'magical' murders, he resorted to more complicated methods. Like a trap of some sort, which, in the way that it is designed, killed messily and didn't clean up afterwards.'

'So?' Kinzo bared his teeth. 'I'm waiting for your big punchline, boy.'

'If you want one so badly, you'll have it,' Battler said. 'It's a bit strange that a witch, with all the powers of nature at her disposal, would need to leave a body. Why not just teleport them to the happy land or whatever it is you call it? Why leave wounds that look suspiciously like knives?'

'Shut up,' Kinzo garbled, taking another step forwards. 'Shut up, shut up, you miserable lout! What are you trying to do?'

'Beats me,' Battler shrugged in Kinzo's sweating face. 'I'm not doing anything, really. Just stating the facts.'

'She does exist,' Kinzo swung a finger at the girl in the picture. 'She does, and she's going to take me home. You'd better not get in the way, runt.'

'Wouldn't dream of it,' Battler said. 'But you might want to consider getting some help. You look insane, old man.'

'That's because I am!' Kinzo produced a hollow grin, before bending over and beginning another round of violent coughing. Genji quickly stood up and ushered him to his seat.

'And that's what I have to say,' Battler said. 'Yeah.' He turned away, picked up the flask of alcohol and began drinking it again.

'So you're saying the killer is human, then?' Nanjo said.

'I guess.'

'But...you haven't exactly proven anything. Who do you think is the killer, then?'

'Dunno?'

'How did he carry out the murders?'

'Out of my hands, doc.'

'Why did he do it?'

Battler paused in mid-sip. 'He's a psycho,' he said, and continued drinking.

'Killing someone is a terrible thing,' Genji said. Everyone regarded him with surprise. This was the first time they had heard him speak without having been called upon.

'Shut up, Genji,' Kinzo moaned, putting a hand over his head.

'It's true, Master. Killing another human being is an act against the God of this Earth,' Genji swept all of their faces with his gaze, and, for the first time, something indiscernible flickered in his blank eyes. 'To kill one is a sin. To kill nine in one day is an abomination.'

No one dared to speak. Battler continued to chug nosily at his bottle.

'I lost someone, once,' he said. 'Someone dear to me.'

'Who?' Nanjo said.

'Someone,' Genji replied briskly. 'We lived in very dangerous times in Taiwan, back when we were young. There was death everywhere. But I never expected, for one second, that death would reach us. It did.'

He paused for a moment, his face intact, and then spoke again. 'Since then, I realised killing another human being is a terrible thing. In this world, killing is the most heinous thing anyone can ever do.'

Finally, he fell silent. The others waited with bated breath to hear him speak again, but he didn't stir. He seemed to have exhausted all his energy for that one personal monologue.

'That's harsh,' Battler had time to say, before he started drinking again.

Rosa got up. 'I'm going to get to the bottom of this,' she muttered. She cast a glare at Krauss before walking over to the portrait of the Blue Witch. As per tradition of Rokkenjima, the epitaph was inscribed in a tablet below it. She put her hands on both sides of the tablet and began reading.

Nanjo looked at the clock. It was already six in the evening. The twelve hours that had passed since the first murder could have been a thousand miles. Gohda, who had been silent this whole time, was glancing out the window every now and then. His clothes was sagging with sweat. Next to the Krauss and Battler, he was probably the most unstable. Nanjo walked over to try to comfort him.

'The window's locked, right?' was the first thing Gohda said.

'I would assume so...' Nanjo tried to push open the window, but could not. 'It's locked tight, Gohda. Don't worry, nothing can climb up here, anyway.'

'Nothing could have passed those chained doors in the morning, too.' Gohda said. 'In here, we've got a door and a window. We're doomed.'


	13. Red

Rosa was scribbling something down on a piece of paper. Certain that Gohda had been pacified, at least for the moment, Nanjo made his way over to her.

'What are you doing?' he said.

Rosa didn't answer, or rather, chose not to answer. She continued her scribbling with barely a pause. Feeling awkward, Nanjo did one last check of the room around him. Since Battler's outburst, there had been no more words from him, and everyone had slowly milled into different corners of the room.

The bottle was still to Battler's mouth, although the alcohol had long been sucked dry. Instead, Battler was chewing away at the rim, sitting on the table and staring in the distance. Kinzo, Genji and Krauss had moved to another corner, sitting together, but not talking to each other, keeping their eyes fixed on objects unknown. Nanjo looked back at Rosa, and tried again. 'Rosa, what are you writing down?'

Rosa finally bothered to look up, and her eyes were unlike anything Nanjo had seen of her before. 'I'm solving this damn mystery,' she said. 'And, if you don't mind, I don't want anyone to see what I'm doing.'

But Nanjo had already put two and two together. 'Are you trying to solve the riddle?'

Rosa flushed with red, and it took a while for Nanjo to realise it was bare frustration. 'Yeah, I guess I am. But you'd better not tell anyone.'

'Do you think the riddle is some sort of clue?'

'It's the only thing that we have. Everything revolves around that Blue Witch, even this. The riddle was put there for a reason. And I'm going to solve it.'

'Why don't you just ask Kinzo...'

'Are you mad?' Rosa growled. 'I don't trust Father one bit.'

'Why?'

'Isn't it obvious?'

'It is,' Nanjo admitted. 'Kinzo does seem...a little off.'

'Listen, you'd better not tell anyone I'm working on the riddle. Not Kinzo or anyone else.'

'Why?'

'Because,' Rosa looked back down at her scribblings, and began to write again. 'If one of the people in here is the culprit, I'll be next.'

'You...you believe that the culprit is among us?'

'My brother was an ass, but he was right. I can't believe it took me this long to realise it.'

'Rosa...' Nanjo searched for the words that would help soothe the tension. The words failed to arrive like they always did.

'Well, I know you're working on the riddle,' he said. 'And I may be the culprit.'

'Yeah. That means I'll be watching you from now on.'

'Oh,' Nanjo said. 'That's...unsettling.'

'It is,' Rosa said, and spoke no more. Their conversation was already over.

All his life, Nanjo had prided himself on his ability as a middleman, his skill at downplaying serious situations and defusing tensions at the point when people were willing to come to blows. Today however, all these skills had failed him. Everyone was as moody as they could possibly be, trapped in this office like a boiling pot of water. Even Nanjo himself had lost all optimism. They were going to die here, all of them. It went beyond rational thinking, but they were going to die, despite the sturdy door with only one key. They were going to die here.

'Genji?' Kinzo said. 'Genji, what's the matter with you?'

Genji was still in his chair, but he was bent double, his face on his lap. His eyes were closed. He was unresponsive to Kinzo's call.

Krauss gave another of his short wails and backed away.

'Genji,' Kinzo said again. 'Genji, are you dead or something?'

He shook Genji's shoulder roughly. No response. Kinzo reached under Genji's body, and, after some fiddling, came out with a bloody stake grasped in his hand. 'Oh dear.'

Genji's body toppled sideways, and crashed onto the floor on its back, exposing the bloody hole in his heart for all to see. Time seemed to freeze.

'The Blue Witch!' Kinzo howled, jumping up and running towards the portrait. 'The Blue Witch!'

'Now, wait,' Nanjo protested as everyone prepared to run. 'Just-just calm down. The door's locked, remember? So - '

'The culprit's one of us,' Battler said, throwing the bottle to the floor.

'The Blue Witch!' Krauss garbled.

'It's not a witch,' Battler shouted at him. 'It's one of us, maybe it's that old man - ' he stopped. 'Where's Kinzo?'

Everyone whirled to face to the portrait. Kinzo, who had been pounding on the portrait a few seconds earlier, was nowhere to be found.

Battler blinked. 'Wha - what - '

'Everyone...' Nanjo stammered. 'Just...calm..down...'

Gohda darted over to the door, threw it open, and was gone. Krauss followed not soon after, and the rest, driven mad by the double murders, were hot on their heels. They stumbled out in a confused mass, their thoughts a whirling storm of panic and terror. Each person ran in the first direction they saw, any direction, so long as it wasn't leading back into the cursed study. The hallway was emptied in seconds.

* * *

><p>'So how about it, Wright?' Bernkastel laughed. 'Another two more riddles for you to solve!'<p>

Will remained silent, staring at the bare table. Bernkastel did not seem to mind his silence, on the contrary, she jumped at the opportunity. 'Come on, don't act so glum. Here, I'll start for you.'

She whipped out a red needle, resting it between her finger and thumb. '**Kinzo is not hiding the room.**So his sudden disappearance out of thin air is a mystery, isn't it? Like poor, poor Kumasawa. Hey, hey, are you listening?'

She flicked the needle towards Will. It morphed into a gigantic sword in mid-air and speared Will through the heart, propelling him out of his chair. When his vision cleared, Will found Bernkastel's face leaning in, her grin distorted beyond natural proportions.

'What's wrong, Wriiiigghhhtt? Have you given up so easily? Looks like I'll have to dump you back into Oblivion, you knooooow?'

She had snapped, somehow, during their last confrontation, and now he could discern nothing from her face but the guise of a complete monster. He closed his eyes, and tried to formulate a response. 'Re - repeat this. Kinzo is currently dead.'

'I refuse,' he heard her say. He was getting a headache thinking about all this. He struggled to think, to say something, but nothing came out.

'I'll take it from here, Master,' he heard a new voice say. He opened his eyes.

'But I was having so much fun!' Bernkastel giggled.

'I can give him a harder riddle,' the Blue Witch said. Her voice betrayed none of the cheerful demeanor Will so desperately craved at this moment. Her smile was gone too.

'Oh, very well - but you'd better make it a hard one. I want him to tear his brains out.'

'It will,' The Blue Witch said, and finally made eye contact with Will. They gazed at each other for a few seconds before she opened her mouth to speak.

'Listen to me carefully, Mr. Wright. I won't repeat it.'

'I'm listening,' Will found himself saying.

'**Right now, Genji has been stabbed at close range in the closed room of the study.**'

'Yeah, he was.'

'**The door is impenetrable by any means once it is locked. It was locked the entire time, from when Battler's group entered until they fled.'**

'Okay.'

'**There were seven people in the room: Kinzo, Genji, Battler, Rosa, Nanjo, Krauss and Gohda.**'

'**Kinzo didn't kill Genji'**

'**Battler didn't kill Genji.'**

**'Rosa didn't kill Genji.'**

**'Nanjo didn't kill Genji'**

**'Krauss didn't kill Genji.'**

**'Gohda didn't kill Genji.'**

**'Of course, Genji didn't kill himself. Nor did he die of an accident of any sort.'**

**'Apart from these seven people, no other humans existed in the room.'**

'So you see, Mr Wright. No human could have killed Genji.'

'It's a souped-up version of Nanjo's murder in the third game, Wright!' Bernkastel cackled. 'Genji is dead, and no human on the island could have killed him!'

'Not...true,' Will murmured. 'Some of the earlier victims could have been playing dead. And Hideyoshi and Rudolf were still running around.'

'**But no one could have passed through that door!**'

'Then - ' Will swallowed.

'You can't, can you? You can't come up with anything!'

The Blue Witch turned away from him, and perhaps that was the worst of all. He could only lie bleeding on the floor, with the red stake sticking out of his heart, watching her sink further and further away.

* * *

><p>Battler finally stopped running. He staggered against the wall for support, heaving his lungs out. As his brain finally returned to reality, he realised he had no clue where he was. Or where the others had scurried off to. Fear had driven each and every one of them into separate corners of the mansion.<p>

Just according to the fucking plan.

Both ends of the hallway was shrouded in darkness. Battler tried to stop his panting to listen. He could hear the rain pattering against the window somewhere. He thought he could hear something moving several floors above him, although he couldn't be sure. What he dreaded most was hearing a footstep. The sound of feet on carpet in the darkness beyond would signal the arrival of the culprit, and Battler, alone and pumped with alcohol, a stick figure, wouldn't stand a chance.

Battler kept close to the wall, breathing hard, taking slow, deliberate steps. If the culprit was coming, Battler would make sure he would hear him. He needed to get out of his exposed hallway. He needed to survive. Carefully, with one last step, he melted into the darkness.

* * *

><p>By the time Rosa's senses reasserted themselves, she found herself back downstairs, where Kumasawa had disappeared. The portrait of the Blue Witch was the same as they had left it, her smile undisturbed. Rosa shivered.<p>

She realised she was grasping someone's hand. She looked down, and saw Krauss crumpled into a ball, his eyes staring at the portrait. Rosa hadn't even remembered grabbing hold of her brother as they all had run out.

In her other hand, she still held the rifle.

'Krauss,' she said softly tugging his arm. 'Krauss.'

'She - she did it.'

'Krauss,' she said.

'He looked up at her, with the eyes of a baby. 'She did it.'

'No she didn't. Get up. We have to move.'

The terror of a few minutes ago was already returning to her, and she tried her best to shut it out. They needed to move. She still had the rifle. they still had a chance.

She raised it, checked it was loaded, and test-fired a shot. She pulled the trigger and it the bullet slammed into the face of the Blue Witch, smashing it beyond proportion. Krauss jumped at the gunshot, and that, at least, brought him to a standing position.

Rosa realised she had just broadcasted her position to everyone in the mansion, and cursed herself. But what was done was done. She needed to take Krauss, and hide, somewhere where they could wait the storm out.

But where?

The parlor wasn't safe. The study wasn't safe. Where else could she hide?

Even as she pondered, she heard a footstep.

She pivoted on one foot, swung her rifle round, and jumped it to her face. It was Battler.

'A-aunt Rosa!' Battler yelped, backing away from the barrel that was aimed at his head. 'Aunt Rosa, it's me!'

'Get away,' Rosa whispered, her finger freezing on the trigger.

'W-what?'

'Get away,' Rosa snarled.

'A-aunt Rosa!' Battler smiled nervously. 'I'm not going to hurt you.'

'Someone in that office killed Genji,' Rosa spoke fast. 'The door was locked. One of us killed him, and all I know is that it wasn't me. It could be you.'

'But...I - '

'You said it yourself,' Rosa snapped. 'The culprit is one of us. So go away before I blow your head off.'

'Aunt Rosa...I just...' Battler's features twisted in frustration. 'This is just what he wants! He's separating us!'

'Do I look like I care? Last warning.'

The barrel had never strayed from his forehead one inch. Battler dropped his hands. 'I...I just...want us to live,' he stared pleadingly at her. 'Is there nothing I can do?'

'You can solve the epitaph.'

'What?'

Rosa loathed to let go of her brother's hand, but she needed one hand free. She withdrew her grip from Krauss, reached into her pocket, and brought out the piece of paper she had written all her theories on. She rolled it up into a ball and tossed it to him.

'I think the riddle's a clue. I couldn't solve it, but maybe you can. Maybe you can find out who the culprit is. Now go.'

'Aunt Rosa - '

'I swear I'll shoot! Now go!'

Battler clutched the piece of paper tightly to his chest. 'Stay safe, Aunt Rosa.'

'You too.'

After one last glance at the two of them, Battler turned around and disappeared into the darkness, leaving the two of them alone.

Rosa didn't dare loosen her grip until a full minute had passed. it was only then when she finally allowed herself to sag, hanging the gun down by her side. Krauss was still standing beside her, quiet.

'We'll get through this, Krauss,' she said. 'We'll get through this.'

Krauss gave no sign that he had heard. Rosa was struck by an inspiration.

'I know where we can hide,' she said.

Krauss murmured something indiscernible.

'Come on, Krauss,' she tugged gently on his arm, and he followed.

* * *

><p>The boiler room was almost exactly as she had remembered it. She found the switch and flicked it on. The light spluttered briefly, illuminating the massive boiler for a brief moment, before dying out.<p>

'This place was always scary,' she said to Krauss.

'Mmm.'

'Remember when we were young? There was one day when we were playing hide and seek,' she giggled a little, and wondered if she was going mad. 'You said you were too old to play, but you played anyway. You were the seeker. Eva hid behind the curtains in the parlor upstairs. And Rudolf sneaked into Father's study - remember how angry Father got?'

The words sailed over him. Rosa gripped him tighter and led him over to a small door in the corner. 'The key should still be here...there is is,' she fished a rusty key off the shelf. 'Remember this room, Krauss? I hid in here, in that day.'

She went to the battered door and twisted the key in the keyhole. 'Not many people know about this. I was so proud to have found this place.'

After jiggling the key several times, she finally got the ancient door to open. Inside was a bare space - no bigger than a bathroom, and completely empty.

'I think we'll be safe here,' Rosa said, her face hardening. She gave the room one brief sweep with her rifle, even though there was nothing to search for. 'No one's going to be hiding in here.'

She held up her rusty key, waving it in front of Krauss's face. 'This room is so old, this is the only key to the place. And it's coming in with us.'

She studied the room one more time, and spotted a fatal flaw - the small rectangular window at the top, so small it could barely fit a cat. But it was still an opening, an entrance.

'I suppose it'll have to do,' Rosa said, covering the opening with her rifle. 'If anyone tries to shoot us or something, I'll shoot them first. Could you shut the door, Krauss?'

After a moment, Krauss went over to the door and started to creak it closed. The dim ribbon of light slowly diminished until the door banged shut, trapping them in near complete darkness. Rosa put the key in the slot, and after many difficult jerks she finally managed to click it closed.

'It's kinda scary here,' Rosa said after a while. 'But we'll be safe. No one can touch us here.'

She sat down, pointing the rifle at the window. No matter what, she would keep the rifle on the window. She would see that Krauss and her would live to see another day.

'Remember when I was hiding down here for hide and seek?' she said. 'And I closed the door behind me, but it got stuck or something, I can't remember exactly what happened, my memory's so foggy on that day. So I was trapped in this small dark room, and I was scared. But then I remembered you found me and let me out.'

Krauss didn't reply. He stared into the inky blackness, thinking about the Blue Witch.


	14. Crossroads

Bernkastel had - mercifully - disappeared, presumably to pursue whimsical whims of her own. Which left Will alone with the Blue Witch. Will had manged to get back to his seat and pull the stake out of his chest, but the wound in his heart had not healed. It was all so deliciously corny, it annoyed him, and it annoyed him that he was annoyed.

What ticked him off the most was that she didn't have that smile on her face.

She had been watching the game with him, saying nothing, her eyes downcast. The game had went on and on without so much as a peep from her, and at the point where Rosa and Krauss had found their (supposed)safe haven, Will found he had to say something.

'You heard everything just now, right?' he said.

The Blue Witch started a little, and then nodded quickly. She was like a child. Will sighed and stood up.

'So you heard me...calling you these things.'

Another quick series of nods.

'Yeah, well...' Truth be told, Will didn't have a clue what to say to her. To his surprise, she said it for him.

'You don't think I exist?'

'Well, that's not exactly - 'Will paused. 'Well, no.'

'So you want to kill me.'

'I wouldn't put it that way.'

'If you want to kill me, you should do it,' she said, choking up a little. 'I won't stop you.'

Will tried to think of something, anything to say, but could not. Anything he could say to comfort her were nothing but a packet of blatant lies. If there was one thing Will hated, it was lies. He paced around erratically around the table before finally sitting down again. He resumed the game.

* * *

><p>Rudolf put the kettle on the stove, and flicked on the switch. '...Alright, black coffee coming up.'<p>

'Thanks,' Hideyoshi said.

'Shut up.'

They both sat on the dining table across from each other, listening the to kettle bubble.

'You know, this kitchen isn't exactly what I'd call safe,' Rudolf said. 'There's windows from all sides, a staircase, and two doors. We're smack bang in a middle of a potential ambush.'

'But the coffee's going to be good.'

'Yeah,' Rudolf said, chuckling. 'The coffee's going to shine like the morning star. I just hope I don't get shot before I finish it.'

'Heh,' Hideyoshi got up from the table and strode over to the window. 'Even if we do manage to get through this...I don't know what I'll do.'

'Well, I know what I'll do.'

Hideyoshi looked at him. 'What?'

'I'd buy a house in the Carribean and stay it in forever. Maybe go for a little swim once in a while, but not too far.'

'That sounds nice.'

'It does. I could persuade Battler to come alone, if he's still willing. And if he's still alive,' Rudolf stared at the ceiling. 'I wonder how all of them are doing. Hope they aren't dead.'

'I hope so too, yeah.'

The kettle started whistling. Rudolf got up and switched stove up. He started filling the cups with warm, creamy coffee.

'Rudolf,' Hideyoshi's voice came high, alert. Rudolph put down the kettle at once.

'What is it?'

'There's someone standing outside,' Hideyoshi said, squinting into the darkness from the window.

'What! Who?'

'I...don't know...it's too dark...he or she's holding something - '

'Hideyoshi, get away from the window - '

Hideyoshi ducked just in time. A thundering gunshot, piercing through the storm, shattered the glass and flew past Rudolf's head. Rudolf immediately dropped the coffee and threw himself to the ground. Rain and wind howled through the open window, turning the kitchen into a battleground.

'What the fuck!' he shouted. 'Hideyoshi, stay down, dammit!'

'I'm staying down!'

Keeping his body arced low, Rudolf crawled towards Hideyoshi near the broken window. 'Shit. Bastard's got us pinned down.'

'That sounds bad.'

Rudolf, balancing himself on one foot, pivoted himself to the wall directly beside the window. He took a quick look outside.

He saw a shadowy figure, erect in the rain, pointing a gun. The muzzle flashed, and Rudolf whipped his head back just as the bullet chewed off several chunks of plaster near his cheek.

'Shit,' Rudolf said. 'We're fucked now, buddy.'

'We can just hide here - '

'No,' Rudolf shook his head. 'Bastard's going to come in through the door, keeping us from moving through the window. And when he starts shooting in the kitchen, we're finished. Like rats trapped in a barrel.'

'So it's not looking good.'

'Fuck it's not,' Rudolf swallowed hard, willing all his forty year-old survival instincts to guide his thoughts. 'Okay. Here's our best chance. We crawl through the back door, and escape out there.'

'But won't that take a long time?'

'You bet,' Rudolf gritted his teeth. 'He might just come in, see us crawling across the floor, and shoot us there. But if we can do it fast enough, we're golden. Now let's start.'

'We could just offer him a cup of coffee, though.' Hideyoshi said.

Rudolf stared at him. 'Are you serious? I don't have fucking time for your jokes.'

'Sorry - but I'm only half-joking. We could surrender to him.'

'Have you fucking gone soft in the head?'

'Listen, I read it in a book somewhere. In fights, you've got to remember, the opponent is as scared as you are.'

'Jesus Christ...'

'Even if he doesn't accept our surrender, we can reason with him. Like, offer him to a teriyaki dinner or something.'

'Are you goddamn serious?'

'It worked on Eva.'

'Eva's too soft for her own good. This psycho killed eight people - he's a cold-blooded piece of shit.'

'I'm going to talk to him.'

'Haven't you learned a single goddamn thing?' Rudolf hissed. 'This entire time, you haven't learnt a single thing?'

'Haven't you?' Hideyoshi retorted.

'Fuck you,' Rudolf said, getting down on the floor. 'You can stay here and talk to him all you want. I'm skedaddling.'

He crawled across the broken glass, feeling them sting his cuffs. He heard Hideyoshi move behind him.

'Don't do it, Hideyoshi,' he said without looking back. As he reached the cups, which had lay where they had fallen, he heard Hideyoshi stand up in full view of the window.

A gunshot. And a scream.

Rudolf twisted his head round. Hideyoshi was already falling, a bloody stream shooting from his chest.

'Hideyoshi! You fucking idiot!'

Hideyoshi crumpled onto the ground, still. Rudolf cast a look between him and the door, and crawled back to the window. Hideyoshi's chest was heaving up and down like a spring, and he was gritting in teeth. Blood spread out over his entire shirtfront.

'Hideyoshi! Oi, you fucker, can you hear me?'

Hideyoshi opened his eyes a tiny fraction. 'E...Ev...'

'Why the fuck did you do that for?' Rudolf rose up on his knees as high as he dared, and tore open Hideyoshi's jacket. The wound was a lot worse that it looked - it seemed like someone had punched through Hideyoshi's lungs.

'Fuck, you're fucked up. You idiot.'

'Eva...' Hideyoshi hacked out a few lollops of blood, before he was able to continue. 'Eva...was right...the roses...really do look...blue...'

'Hang on, Hideyoshi.' Rudolf tore off his own jacket and pressed it against the hole in Hideyoshi's chest, hard. It turned red in two seconds.

'I...I'm sorry...'

'Hideyoshi! Don't you fucking dare die on me, you idiotic piece of fu - '

He had strayed to close to the window. The second bullet arrived and tore through his body. Rudolf fell next to Hideyoshi, his arms sprawled out. He didn't feel any pain. He didn't even know where he was shot. All he knew was that his shirt was turning very warm and very wet. He couldn't move.

'Fu...' his words came out shakily. 'Fu - ck!'

He had fallen such that the only view he could see was that of the storm outside. The grey clouds were greyer than he had ever seen them. The rain poured down in torrents, slapping at his face like cold needles. He felt chilly.

Darkness was eating away at his eyes.

'No...' he struggled to turn over, and miraculously, his arm managed to twitch a few inches. He wasn't going to die here. Forty years, he had survived, and it would take more than a bullet to knock him off the race.

He moved his right arm, and an explosion of pain burst out along his shoulder. So that was where he had been hit, the shoulder. He would live, he had to. Using his one remaining arm and his legs, he dragged himself away from the window, and towards the door of freedom, leaving a bloody trail behind him. On the way, he snuck one last look back.

Hideyoshi was still lying in front of the window, exposed to the storm. His chest wasn't moving anymore.

* * *

><p>Battler thought he heard gunshots, though he couldn't be sure. The storm drowned out everything.<p>

The mansion's front door was lying wide open. After Genji had locked it earlier, some maniac had unlocked it again with a master key. Or perhaps Gohda had unlocked it, willing to take his chances out in the storm. But the door was open, everybody scattered, and the mansion was a mashful of entrances and exits. Just according to the culprit's fucking plan.

But Battler had solved the riddle.

He had poured over it for almost an hour, sitting in front of the portrait, feeling the Witch's smile as he worked alone in the dark. And he had finally figured out what the riddle wanted him to find.

He had to go outside.

He still had a chance at this.


	15. Last One Out

Will heard the clock begin its chime. Nine, ten, eleven. One more hour to midnight. One more hour to the Witch's revival.

'It's ending soon,' The Blue Witch said. 'The game is coming to a close.'

'Yeah,' Will murmured, not daring to look her in the face.

'So you'll have to give your answer soon.'

'I will.'

'Is this story...a fantasy?' he held out her left hand. 'Or is it...a mystery?' she stretched out her other hand.

Will turned his eyes back to the game, leaving her hanging.

'Just curious, Mr Will...what do you think?'

'Think of what?'

'This game. Is it a fantasy or a mystery?'

'I haven't decided.'

'But you must believe one viewpoint more strongly than the other, right?'

'They're both the same.'

'They can't be the same. Do you think this is a fantasy, or a mystery?'

'A mystery,' Will swallowed, awaiting her reaction.

'So you'll kill me.'

'I won't.'

'You'll have to kill me if you choose mystery. But in fantasy, you won't have to kill anything.'

'Yes you will,' Will said, finally meeting her eyes. 'You'll have to kill your whole world.'

'And create a new one.'

'A shallow world.'

'That's only if you see it that way.'

'I see it that way.'

'So you'll kill me?'

'I don't know,' Will said.

'I like fairy tales,' The Blue witch said, and, for a moment, she looked like a child again. 'I had this one, where some Prince Charming would swoop down from the sky and we'd just have tea parties forever in the Golden Land.'

'I'm not your Prince Charming.'

'I know, but still, I've been so horribly lonely. I still write letters to that person on Rokkenjima, and the friend, but that's only two people. I only have two people to have a tea party with. Wouldn't it be nicer to have ten, or twenty?'

'Have your own tea party if you want,' Will said, 'But don't force others to come.'

* * *

><p>The hidden door creaked into life, twisting outwards and withdrawing into a hidden panel, revealing a set of stairs behind it. Battler stared uncertainly at the pit below him. He was drenched in partially in sweat, and partially in the rain he had to fight through to get here. He couldn't back out now.<p>

He crept down the steps, and came to another door. He grasped the doorknob. It was cold to the touch, and didn't move easily. Slowly, he worked it from side to side until the door finally swung open.

The first thing he saw was the Blue Witch. Then another three copies of her joined in. The entire room, walls and ceiling, were all swarming with portraits, all identical, all bearing her blue hair and gentle smile. Even the floor had a scattering of pictures about the ground. Stepping into the room, Battler felt like a million pairs of eyes were watching him.

And that was it. The Blue Witch was everywhere, and there was no other purpose to the room. This was simply a shrine to the master to Rokkenjima, the Blue Witch, and nothing else.

The portraits all looked brand new. The doorknob outside, although as rickety as all old doors were, didn't have a smidgen of dust on it. In fact, it had been covered with fingerprints. Someone had been coming here for a long time, frequently, every week or even every day.

Someone had come here every day, simply looked at the portraits, locked eyes with the smiling Blue Witch, and repeated the cycle all over again. Someone had treasured the Blue Witch's smile to such an extent that they were willing to come back here every day just to get even a glimpse of it.

Battler felt sick.

* * *

><p>The first person Rudolf saw outside was Gohda. He was lying in the arbor, his body bent backwards, a bullet hole planted above his wide, frozen eyes. Nanjo was a few meters away from him, his arms thrown out. a similar wound on his back. The two of them looked like they had been running from something as fast as their legs could carry them, but of course it was all useless. The killer had got them in the end.<p>

Rudolf didn't linger any longer than he had to. He hadn't heard a peep from the gunman when he had staggered out of the guesthouse, but he wasn't about to take any chances. The pain from his shoulder was pulsing waves into his brain, but he kept going, feeling the chill of the rain mixing in with his blood. If Nanjo and Gohda were dead, it meant that the rest of the group wasn't safe either.

Rudolf thought of Battler. He thought of Krauss, and he thought of Rosa.

The mansion's door was open. He dragged himself inside, and leaned on the door to close it. The portrait rose out of the darkness to greet him, as usual.

Rudolf stared at the portrait. It was funny, how just twelve hours ago he had felt comforted at that innocent smile that was the Blue Witch's trademark. Now, he just wanted to tear her face into pieces.

Something was burning. He hadn't noticed it before, because of the pain invading his mind, but now the stench hit him like a slap. A burning stench like this could only come from one place - the boiler room. Rudolf hauled himself off the door, redoubled his grip on his broken shoulder, and began to walk.

The stench got stronger and stronger as Rudolf climbed deeper into the basement. The boiler room was at the end of the hallway, the door closed. Rudolf opened it, and the heat and smoke slammed into his face.

The boiler was alight with dancing flames, burning something charred and broken. The smell was even more stronger here. Choking, Rudolf threw himself forwards and shut the boiler off, rendering the air breathable again. He took a closer look at the thing in the boiler.

It was a human body. Rudolf automatically slid his eyes down to his feet, and they yielded what he had feared - six toes. This body was the corpse of Kinzo.

'Fucking old man,' Rudolf spat, for no apparent reason, but then saw a room in the corner. He vaguely remembered this ancient room, where Rosa had once hid and nearly starved to death had not Krauss found her a long long time ago. There was something sticking out of the keyhole. Rudolf hobbled over to investigate.

It was the broken half of a fire poker, jammed into the keyhole as if someone was trying to force it open. Rudolf grasped the doorknob, and he could not turn it. He threw himself against the door, but it didn't budge. Whoever had tried to break this door open, hadn't opened it.

There was a small window near the ceiling, looking into the room. It had been smashed to bits, broken pieces of glass lying on the ledge. Rudolf took a look through it.

It was dark, but the the dim light illuminated the room somewhat. Rosa was lying slumped against the wall, her rifle lying in her hands. Krauss was lying on the floor, his hands folded almost in acceptance. Neither of them were moving.

'Big Bro!' Rudolf whispered, as if he was afraid of waking them up. 'Little Sis! You okay?'

They didn't move. Rudolf tried to search their bodies for wounds, but it was too dark.

'Rosa! Krauss! Answer me, you fuckheads! Are you okay?'

They didn't answer.

Rudolf backed away from the window, the pain from his shoulder numbing. His throat itched for a cigarette, but he had dropped the lighter during his escape.

'Fuckheads,' he whispered.

Now that there was no one to watch him, Rudolf allowed a few solitary tears to slip down his cheek. He walked as he cried, an unseen force driving him up the stairs and back into the main hall. He just had to keep moving. He had to stay alive.

He gave out a few steps away from the stairs. It wasn't the pain, just tiredness. His muscles simply fell slack and he crashed against the banister, blood flowing freely down his shirt. He stared at the Blue Witch in the portrait.

Someone had already fired a slug at her face, ruining her hair, but her mischievous smile remained. Rudolf stretched his hand out, trying to tear her smile down from the wall, but he was too far away. His hand dropped to his side.

Rosa and Krauss were dead. Gohda and Nanjo were dead. Even probably Battler, too. The main hall was empty, the only thing he could hear the rain. No one else was left. Everyone except him and the culprit was dead.

The Blue Witch's gaze burned into his fading vision. He couldn't tear his eyes from her even if he tried. The Blue Witch, the mastermind behind the murders, the harbinger of the destruction and death that had torn this island apart, was staring into his very soul. As Rudolf stared, her magnificence seemed to grow, burning brighter and brighter with each passing second, her angelic aura sprouting out from her dress.

She stepped out of the portrait.

* * *

><p>Rudolf knew he was hallucinating. The pain had finally got through to him, he was finally going to bleed out in front of the staircase, and he was hallucinating. but the Blue Witch was there, in front of him, in the flesh, as clearly as he had ever seen her. With one key difference. She wasn't smiling.<p>

she stared at him, resplendent in the gloom, waiting for him to speak.

'You aren't real,' Rudolf muttered, his voice dry.

'But I'm standing in front of you.'

'I'm just seeing things.'

'Why do you believe that?' the Blue Witch said. 'Why do you believe that and not me?'

'Magic and all that shit doesn't exist,' Rudolf said. 'If it did, I'd be swimming in happyland right now, but this ain't happyland. This is real life, and I'm not going to have some bitch like you fuck it up.'

She winced at the word bitch, but otherwise kept up her stony gaze. 'I'll grant any wish for you.'

'I don't want any wish,' Rudolf said. 'I don't want thin wishes granted for me. I'd like nice, fat, thick ones, if you know what I'm saying.'

'So you don't believe?'

'Fuck no.'

'Then can you explain the deaths?'

'Maybe,' Rudolf grinned, and a jacket started to form around the edges of his shirt. 'Try me.'

'The First Twilight. The six victims locked in the two closed rooms sealed by a chain.'

'Earth to Earth,' Rudolf said, putting on the jacket. 'Even the dead are permitted to seal their own rooms.'

'Second Twilight. The two mothers leave the safety of the parlor and die in the rain.'

'Earth to Earth. Illiusions to Illusions,' Rudolf rubbed at his hair, which was turning a shade of brown. 'By right, no illusions should have tarnished their final moments.'

'Fourth Twilight. The frightened old maid, floating up several floors to meet her inevitable fate.'

'Illusions to Illusions,' Rudolf put on his necklace, a gold cross hanging on a chain. 'The despair of the dead can only be heard through illusions.'

'Fifth Twilight. The head servant perishes in a perfectly sealed room.'

'Illusions to Illusions. As a great man once said, what you eliminate the impossible, only the possible remains.'

'Sixth Twilight. The tired old man, vanishing from his study to his eternal rest at last.'

'Earth to Earth. Illusions to Illusions. By right, no illusions should have tarnished his final moments.'

'Seventh and Eighth Twilights. Brother and sister descend into eternal sleep together in their impenetrable tomb.'

'Earth to Earth. Even a sealed room can be a double-edged sword.'

'Ninth Twilight. The Witch shall revive and none shall be left alive.'

A black sword thudded at Rudolf's feet. He grabbed it, and stood up tall.

'Illusions to Illusions,' Will said. 'The dreams of an ephemeral soul are, in the end, simply illusions.'

'Are you ready, Mr Wright?' The Blue Witch said.

'Yeah. I'll explain all of the mysteries. I'll return all of you to the Earth.'

'So you're going to kill me, then,' the Blue Witch hung her head. 'You've made your decision.'

'Yeah,' Will said, swinging the sword up. 'Let's begin.'


	16. Resurrected Replayer:  Final Chance

_This is your final chance. _

_Is it a fantasy, or a mystery?_

_I'll be waiting for your answer._

_Can you kill her?_

* * *

><p><span>General Truths<span>

**The Blue Witch is based on an actual person that really existed.**

**Hidden gold of any sort does not exist in this game.**

** **There are no more than 18 humans on this island. ****

******The perspectives from which this tale is told from are completely unbiased.******

******Absolutely no name tricks of any sort exist within the red truth for this game. When I refer to someone by name, I refer to the collective human person that has the name.******

******For this game, only the servants will use their master keys.******

******There is only one main culprit.******

******There are no more than three killers******

******There is only one accomplice.******

* * *

><p><span>First Twilight<span>

_George, Jessica, Maria, Kanon and Shannon_ _were found in the cousin's room. The door was sealed by a chain, and Battler and Genji had to break it to get in. The bodies were placed neatly in chairs and beds, and all traces of blood had been wiped up. It is theorized that the killer 'cleaned up' after committing the murders._

_Natushi was found in her room, slashed in the stomach. Like the other room, it was sealed by a chain. But unlike the others, she was sprawled across in the floor in an undignified position, with blood everywhere._

****Six people - Natsuhi, George, Jessica, Maria, Shannon and Kanon were definitely killed on the first twilight. They did not commit suicide. All of them died within closed** **rooms.****

******No method exists to set or unset the chain from outside. The chain works like any other normal chain lock, and has not been tampered with.******

********Once the chain is set, it is impossible for any person - alive or dead - to enter the room from outside. The door is the only way in or** **out. Entrance and exit is impossible via any other means.********

**********Before the closed rooms were broken, almost everyone was seen outside the closed rooms. So no one except Kinzo could have been hiding in the rooms.**********

************The closed rooms were created at around twelve midnight! From the time they were created to the time Genji broke the closed rooms, absolutely no one touched the chain.************

**************All six victims were killed with a sharp blade at close range! The culprit was standing right next to them when he dealt the killing blow.**************

* * *

><p><span>Second Twilight<span>

_Eva and Kyrie were found in the rose garden, with wounds resembling gunshot wounds. Kyrie was shot in the right side of her head, and Eva was shot in the stomach. Their rifles, which they had presumably taken with them, were nowhere to be found._

**Eva and Kyrie were killed in the rose garden.**

****At the time when Eva and Kyrie were killed, Rudolf, Hideyoshi, Battler, Krauss, Rosa, Genji, Kumasawa, Nanjo and Gohda were the in the parlor.****

******At the time when Eva and Kyrie were killed, Kinzo was in his study.******

* * *

><p><span>Fourth Twilight<span>

_While everyone was distracted at looking at the portrait, Kumasawa vanished into thin air. A mere few seconds after they had last heard her speak, they heard her scream several floors upstairs. Her body was later found pinned to the wall, with stakes in her hands and her head. Her body, like the cousins, had been 'cleaned up'_

**Genji locked the mansion's main door. In short, Rudolf and Hideyoshi could not have entered the mansion.**

* * *

><p><span>Fifth Twilight<span>

_Genji was found with a stake in his chest. He had been stabbed while everyone was in the study. The door was securely locked, and the only keys to unlock it were inside the study._

**Genji was stabbed at close range.**

****The door is impenetrable by any means once it is locked. It was locked the entire time, from when Battler's group entered until they fled.****

**There were seven people in the room: Kinzo, Genji, Battler, Rosa, Nanjo, Krauss and Gohda.**

****Apart from these seven people, no other humans existed in the room.****

****Kinzo didn't kill Genji.****

****Battler didn't kill Genji.****

****Rosa didn't kill Genji.****

**Nanjo didn't kill Genji.**

**Krauss didn't kill Genji.**

**Gohda didn't kill Genji.**

**Genji didn't kill himself.**

* * *

><p><span>Sixth Twilight<span>

_After Genji's murder, the room flew into a panic. While no one was looking, Kinzo vanished from the office. He was later found in the boiler room by Rudolf, burnt to death. With the six toes on his charred corpse, his identity was confirmed._

**Kinzo was not hiding in the room.**

* * *

><p><span>Seventh and Eighth Twilight<span>

_In a final effort, Rosa and Krauss hid in an extremely old storehouse in the boiler room. There was only one key to the room. As the room was empty, no one could have been hiding in it. When Rudolf arrived a few hours later, there was something jammed in the keyhole, and the window had been smashed. But Rudolf still couldn't get in, so it is assumed no one else could, either._

_Rudolf found Rosa and Krauss's bodies in the room, but could not discern their cause of death as it was too dark._

**I will confirm their deaths with the red.**

* * *

><p><span>Ninth Twilight<span>

_Nanjo and Gohda were shot to death, and Hideyoshi was shot in the chest after he tried to reason with the culprit. Rudolf was shot in the shoulder, but made it back to the mansion._

_Only Rudolf and Battler are left alive on the island._

_Once they are dead, the witch will revive, and all will go to the Golden Land._

* * *

><p><em>You have all the clues. Now put them together. You are required to find out three things.<em>

_The whodunnit._

_The howdunnit._

_And, the whydunnit._

_Make sure to kill her slowly, okay...?_


	17. The Second Time, You Tear out their Guts

The clouds circled over the two combatants, announcing their anticipation with a continuous rumble. They didn't unleash their rain and fury, however. They didn't dare to. This battle belonged to Willard H. Wright, lord of reality, and the Blue Witch of Rokkenjima, the queen of illusions. It was to be conducted in the rose garden, with the roses burning red, without interruption. This was their final battle. No one should be allowed to tarnish their final moments.

'I'll start,' Will said slowly, raising his sword. 'Any objections?'

He wish she would say something, but she did not. Her blue hair looked pathetically grey in the dim light. But this wasn't the time for mercy or second regrets. Will had made his decision, and he was going to see it through, no matter how deep it resonated throughout his heart.

'I'll make the first move then,' Will said. 'I'll unmask the killer. The human culprit of this game is hereby _Kinzo Ushiromiya.'_

A bolt of lighting struck down from the clouds signaling the start of the battle. The Blue Witch showed no reaction to this bold move. 'You may have snagged the whodunnit, Mr Wright, but you still have a long way to go. The first twilight all the way to the eighth. The howdunnit.'

'I'll start with the first twilight.' Will swept his sword down, leaving a faint trail of brilliant blue. 'The murder of the cousins of the locked room is easily solved. _Kinzo entered the room, murdered the five of them, and arranged their bodies. He then locked the door with the chain, waited until morning for Battler and Genji to break the chain, and while no one was looking, he snuck out. _It's a classic closed room trick. Can you refute this?'

'How about Natsuhi's room, then?' The Blue Witch replied evenly, drawing a red line across the air with her finger. '**No one on the island except Kinzo could have been hiding in the rooms. Everyone else had alibis. **You've already used Kinzo up, so you can't use the same trick for Natsuhi. So? How did the killer create Natsuhi's closed room?'

'He didn't need to,' Will said.

'What?'

'He didn't need to create the closed room. Natushi did it herself.'

The Blue Witch gasped, and staggered, while Will mercilessly pressed home his point. 'After failing to find Battler, Kinzo needed to improvise. He found Natushi near her room, and slashed her stomach. _Natsuhi didn't die immediately. She locked the door, staggered around the room in a blood daze, before finally dying near the phone. _In reality, Kinzo only had one closed room to worry about.'

He watched her stagger around in pain, clutching her stomach, as if an invisible blue stake had been buried into her guts.

'Does it hurt?'

'I-I thought you already agreed to kill me...M-Mr Wright...'

'Fair enough,' Will said, whipping back his sword to prepare another blow. 'Next up - the second twilight. The murder of Kyrie and Eva. I already deconstructed this earlier. _Kyrie had brought Eva secretly outside, presumably to confront her at the same time Rudolf was confronting her husband. But Kinzo was lurking from above and seized the opportunity. From the window,_ _he used a rifle to shoot both of them to death without leaving his study.'_

'You're forgetting the rifles,' the Blue Witch snapped, finally managing to rise to a decent standing position. 'They had disappeared. I made them vanish with magic.'

'No you didn't,' Will said. 'Kinzo had an accomplice hidden amongst the group. _While the others split up while searching the rose garden, the accomplice reached the bodies first. He took the rifles and hid them, and then called the others. _The first one to find the bodies are always circumspect.'

The Blue Witch was thrown back once again, like a flurry of punches had smacked against her chest. Will continued without stopping. 'Fourth Twilight. The disappearance of Kumasawa. _Earlier on, Kumasawa was persuaded by Kinzo to leave the group. As soon as she left, Kinzo let out a scream from upstairs. This was the scream the others heard that they thought was Kumasawa's. Kumasawa had ample time to travel up to Kinzo's study, where he killed her, arranged her body, and went back into the study just as the others arrived._ You can't deny this in red?'

The way she clutched her forehead, her mouth moving about in silent pain, was answer enough. Will allowed himself a brief sigh before continuing. 'Fifth Twilight. Genji's murder. If no one in the study killed him, then there's only one explanation. He was killed by a trap.'

'**All traps have to be named and explained!**'

'On it. A small mechanism was built into the desk that fired a stake. It activated automatically after a certain period of time, striking Genji's chest and killing him.'

'A-are you serious,' the Blue Witch gasped, trying, even through her insurmountable pain, to regain her dignity. 'That trap...sounds ridiculous...'

'It's ridiculous, but it's possible. If Kinzo can build secret passageways, like the secret room with the portraits we saw earlier, he could certainly be able to construct a simple trap such as this. Of course, if you can counter with the red, I won't deny you.'

She hung her head.

'Sixth Twilight,' Will said. 'Kinzo's disappearance. This one is so simple it's barely worth any thinking about. _Kinzo simply left through the window_.'

The Blue Witch sank further into the ground. She wasn't even capable of standing anymore.

'Seventh and Eight twilights. Rosa and Krauss's deaths. No one could get into their closed room, but someone certainly could get out.'

'W-what do y-you mean...?' she managed to choke out, writhing around like a dying fish.

'Krauss was already unstable. _Kinzo might have entered and then convinced Krauss to let him in. From there, he killed them both, closed the room, and then jammed the lock to make it look like he had failed to get in._'

He pointed the sword at her heart. 'Thus concludes my explanation for all the magical murders. If you're ready, I'll move on to the whydunnit.'

The Blue Witch lay sprawled on the ground, her blue-grey hair splayed across her face. With some effort, she raised her head, to look at him.

'Mr Wright...finish it...'

'Does it hurt...?'

'Yes...' the Blue Witch choked out. 'Yes...it does...'

'I'm sorry,' Will said. 'Do you have anything else to say? Before I finish it?'

'Y-yeah...' the Blue Witch struggled to rise to her feet, her hair falling in front of her eyes. 'I...I want you to listen...to this...This...is my final...red...'

'Come at me,' Will said, letting the sword fall by his side. 'Show me a good last stand.'

Slowly, very slowly, the Blue Witch stood up. And then she whipped the hair from her face and grinned madly. '**Kinzo didn't kill anyone.'**

Will blinked.

'**Kinzo Ushiromiya is not the culprit!**' she hollered, her shoulder shaking with laughter.

Will was blasted off his feet, catapulting twice into the air before landing on the ground, hard. All the while, her laughter echoed in his ears.

'What do you think?' she cried. 'What you think, Mr Will? I got you good, didn't I? My acting was superb, wasn't it! I tricked you! I tricked you good!'

'Yeah,' Will said, and he couldn't help grinning back. 'Yeah, you did - '

'What do you think, Mr Will? Was it a good trick?'

'It was,' Will said, laughing, feeling all the tension burst free from his shoulders. 'It was, you wicked girl.'

'Wicked girl?' the Blue Witch howled with laughter. 'You're the one who's wicked, Mr Will! Shame on you, shame on you, to break a girl's heart! I'm really going to kill you, you knoooooowww...? I'm going to grind all your bones and organs into chunks and then stomp on them and eat them! I'm going to kiiiiiiillllllllll you...!'

That was the signal. The clouds unleashed everything they had. Thunder, lightning, the barrage of rain, they all came crashing down on the arena, bathing the two laughing souls in a thunderous concert of pure chaos.

'Try and kill me,' Will smirked, rising to his feet. 'I'm not done yet.'

'You've been reset to zero, Mr Will! Restart from the first twilight! Restart from the very beginning!'

'From the very beginning!' Will shouted. 'Alright! This is it! No mercy! No mistakes! This is your death!'

'Just come and trrrryyyy!'

'First twilight!' Will roared. 'I stand by my earlier explanation! Natushi created one closed room and Kinzo created the other!'

'But **Kinzo didn't kill anyone. **Who killed the cousins, then?'

'The culprit!'

'But Kinzo didn't kill anyone!'

'So?' Will smiled. 'He didn't need to. _The culprit killed the cousins, then switched places with Kinzo! Kinzo then locked the door with the chain, with the culprit free to walk around outside! _How's that!'

The Blue Witch unleashed a series of rolling laughter. If Will listened carefully, he thought he could detect a hint of pain in it. The stakes were already boring deep into her body, even as she tried to hide it. But Will pretended not to notice. If there was one thing he owed her, it was a dignified death.

If he could, he was going to give her the dramatic death she wanted.

'Very good, Mr Will!' she cackled. 'Very gooood! **That is entirely correct!** You've barely scratched the surface! Next twilight! Eva and Kyrie!'

'If Kinzo didn't kill them, and the group in the parlor didn't kill them, and the others were dead, then maybe Eva and Kyrie themselves did the killing! _Both of them committed suicide!_'

'**None of them committed suicide!**'

'Then _they killed each other! Kyrie shot Eva in the stomach, thinking she was the killer, but Eva fired back, smashing her head in two! Afterwards, the culprit chanced across the bodies first and hid the rifles to make it seem like a magical murder_! How's that!'

Yet another peal of thunder cracked the sky apart as the Blue Witch howled her pleasure. 'Good, Mr Will, good! **That's exactly how it happened! **Next, Kumasawa's murder!'

'I stand by my earlier theory that Kinzo faked her scream!'

'But if Kinzo didn't kill her, who did!'

'Someone among the group,' Will slashed his sword sideways across the air, opening rifts in the illusion that burned blue. 'While everyone was discussing the epitaph, the culprit slashed her throat and carried her upstairs, and then prepared her body. _The scream was used as a distraction! _While everybody was rushing upstairs to find Kumasawa, _no one noticed the culprit was missing!_'

She was definitely in pain, now, he could see it. But instead she held her head up high and grinned. '**Right, again, Mr Will! **You're really good at this, aren't you...?'

'The disappearance of Kinzo has been already explained, with or without him being the culprit! Moving on - '

'Not so fast!' The Blue Witch screeched. 'I shall add to the red! **Going out the window would certainly result in death!**'

'So?' Will eyed the red stakes, and with one flick, blasted them to oblivion. 'Kinzo was old, sick, and dying. _Death was exactly what he wanted! _Kinzo, the accomplice of this tale, _committed suicide as a final service to the culprit!_'

'That's absurd! Ridiculous! No one would want to die willingly!'

'That's the difference,' Will said. 'That's the difference between you and me. I never, ever, neglect the person's heart.'

The Blue Witch laughed, reveling in her lake of endless foolishness. 'Alright! **You win again, Mr Will!** Next, how about Rosa and Krauss?'

'They could have let someone else in instead of Kinzo - '

'Wrong! **Rosa was paranoid! She wouldn't have let anyone in, no matter who they were!**'

'The window was smashed, right? So - '

'**Rosa had the rifle! She would have shot anyone who appeared at the window!** How is it, Mr Will...? It's not so easy now, riiiiight?'

'Then they were killed by a trap!'

'**Explain it!**' she barked, her upturned teeth gleaming.

Will's brain worked fast, filling in the gaps and flicking switches until the whole thin clicked into place. 'The culprit came in carrying Kinzo's body, and dumped it in the boiler. He then smashed the window, jammed the lock to prevent the door from opening, and then left. Meanwhile, the poisonous fumes from the burnt body that Rudolf had smelt from miles away _was slowly accumulating!_

'The way the culprit jammed the poker into the lock was such that the door couldn't be opened from either side. Rosa mentioned being stuck down there years ago - the door was unreliable, after all. So they were _trapped in their own locked room! While the carbon monoxide slowly built up, entering through the window, and filling their lungs. In this manner, they were choked to death via a trap!_'

'**Absolutely right!' **she screamed. 'You haven't won yet! Fifth Twilight!'

'Genji's murder.'

'I shall add to the red! **Genji didn't die from a trap!**'

'So my earlier explanation is blasted to bits, eh?' Will said. 'I expected as much. The murder of Ronoue Genji is you last line of defence. Are you ready?'

'Get on with it!'

'As you wish!' Will roared. 'I propose that _Genji died by an accident!_'

'Wrong!' The Blue Witch fired back. '**Genji wasn't killed by an accident or a trap! A real human hand swung the stake into his chest!**'

'Someone in the room must have killed him,' Will growled.

**'The only six other people in the room ****- Battler, Rosa, Krauss, Gohda, Nanjo and Kinzo didn't kill him! And Genji didn't commit suicide! **Not so easy now, Mr Will!'

Will closed his eyes.

'Can you solve it? You can't can yoooouuu? No human could have killed him! Because I did! i turned into a stake and feasted upon his guts! I'm going to do the same to yoooooooouuuuuu!'

Time froze. Will blocked everything out, the thunder, the rain, the last, desperate taunt of the Blue Witch, they all ceased to exist. There was only him, and Genji lying dead with the stake in his chest.

* * *

><p><em>There has to be a way.<em>

_If the others are dead..._

_And if Rudolf and Hideyoshi couldn't enter the study..._

_And if no one in the study could have killed him..._

_And Genji didn't kill himself..._

_All 18 humans couldn't have killed Genji._

_Once you eliminate the impossible, only the possible remains._

_This is it._

_The culprit is here._

_The Legend of the Blue Witch is over._

* * *

><p>The clouds ground to a halt. The end had come, and they awaited it patiently, holding their breath. No storms would tarnish the loser's final moments.<p>

'You're right,' Will said. 'No one could have killed him.'

'No one could have killed him because I did - '

'No one could have killed Genji because _Genji isn't dead!_ The mastermind, the entire force behind the murders, the one who masterfully faked his death, the true culprit, of the Rokkenjima massacre,' Will raised a finger, and unleashed it forwards like a bullet from a gun. '_The culprit from this tale is **Ronoue Genji**_!'


	18. End

'So.' Rudolf said, somehow still having enough strength in him to utter a weak chuckle. 'In old Westerns, the quiet guy always turns out to be the psychopathic one, right?'

Genji stood in front of him, holding the rifle by his side. There was a small bandage on his chest where he had stabbed himself - but not too deeply. His clothes were bloody, drenched and faded, and his hair was soaked to the skin, but that same, neutral, robotic expression haunted on his face.

'I'm not a psychopath,' Genji said.

'Yeah, you are,' Rudolf said, watching the rifle in Genji's hand. He was aware he was going to die. Killed at the hand of a servant in the background. It wasn't a good death.

'I'm sorry,' Genji said, the perfect servant, his arm ascending. 'I apologise for the distress I've caused you.'

'Yeah, no fucking shit,' Rudolf said, finding himself staring down the full nine millimetre barrel of darkness. 'But there's one thing I don't get. Why did you do it?'

'Why not?' Genji said.

'Why why not? I would've thought mass murder wasn't exactly the job of a head butler, you know?'

'Not in this world,' Genji agreed. 'But this world doesn't matter. The result, is what comes next.'

'What?'

'My duty has always been to the Ushiromiya family,' Genji said. 'Today is your day of release.'

'You know, the funny thing is, I actually understood that,' Rudolf said. 'Hey, can I ask you for one last favour?'

'Anything you wish.'

'If Battler's still alive, don't kill him. That boy deserves a chance.'

'I apologise,' Genji said. 'I am unable to accede that request.'

Well,' Rudolf said, his head hanging down, his legs preparing to spring. With luck, a well-timed lunge would take Genji completely by surprise. Already Rudolf was working through the motions in his head. It wasn't good odds.

Genji slid back the bolt, and Rudolf knew it was now or never. With one last cry he launched himself upwards, his good arm curled into a fist, aiming for the gun nestled in Genji's hands.

Genji corrected his aim and blasted Rudolf's face off. He watched the body fall with barely a blink, and swiftly reloaded. The shell dropped onto the floor, echoing throughout the empty hall.

'G-genji...'

Battler was standing at the main door, staring at where Rudolf's face should have been. His face was entirely white. Genji turned slowly, and raised the rifle.

'W-why...' Battler said, falling to his knees.

'I did it for her,' Genji said, and fired. After that, there was only one bullet left in the chamber. He saved it for himself.

* * *

><p><em>When the seagulls cry, none are left alive.<em>


	19. Blue Dream

Back and forth, back and forth, he paced outside the gates of St Lucia's Academy, his hands clasped behind his back and his eyes darting to his watch. He felt uncomfortable like this, loitering around a school of all places, where he should be out on the street doing what he knew best.

But here he was. Children was dashing around him, ice cream vendors were peddling their delicious goods, the sun was lighting up the smiles of the young, and he had never felt so far removed from reality than he ever had.

But he had to do this. No matter how awkward he felt, he owed her this much. The mere thought of her managed to calm him down somewhat, and he picked a spot near a tree so that he could sit still for once, and he sat there waiting for her, feeling the breeze tickling his shirt.

* * *

><p>Bernkastel appeared as Will reached the sea. He already knew that Bernkastel, some way or another, would just pop out at the worst possible moment, but he didn't care. Since her death, he had felt numbed of emotion. He simply wanted to get this over with.<p>

'What's that?' Bernkastel said, pointing to the jar in his hand.

'Fuck off,' Will said.

Bernkastel raised an eyebrow, ever so slightly. 'Watch it, Wright. You're starting to sound like that piece Rudolf.'

'Maybe I am, then,' he growled, navigating through the waters, keeping the jar clutched to his chest, trying to find the best possible spot. Bernkastel floated next to him, keeping his pace.

'By the way, that was quite a spectacular showdown. Everyone was just stomping their feet and cheering when you landed the final blow, it was just that - how would one describe it - epic. Truly, an epic, Willard H. Wright. In fact, you put me in such a good mood that I'll forgive you for all the abuse you've thrown at me earlier.'

'Fuck off.'

She chuckled. 'So, did you figure it out?'

'What.'

'Genji's motive. I told you to figure out the whydunnit, didn't I? So, what's your answer?'

Will gripped the jar even tighter. 'He just hated this world.'

'So do I, but I don't go around killing everyone,' she frowned. 'Actually, I do.'

'He's nothing like you,' Will snapped. 'He...just wanted to help. He thought he knew everyone wanted to move on from this world to the next. Maybe he was insane, maybe he was desperate, maybe he was just tired. He followed her advice and brought everyone to the Golden Land. He created the most beautiful mass suicide in history.'

'Ah...I still don't get it.'

Will didn't know whether she was fooling around or not, and, frankly, he didn't care. 'Work it out.'

'It was a good game, don't you think?' Bernkastel half-sang, twirling around in the water. 'Full of suspense, genius, and guts. I bet you've never had something this exciting, eh, Will? Makes you just want to pack your bags and leave that boring SSVD, you know...?'

'I'm leaving.'

This derailed her. 'What?'

'I handed in my resignation.'

Her mouth slowly curved upwards into a smirk. 'Did I really have that much of an impact on you?'

Amidst her venom-laced voice, he found it - the perfect spot in this abyss of darkness. It had jumped it of him from nowhere, exactly as he had pictured, and he had niggling but not altogether unpleasant suspicion that the sea had prepared it especially for him. He stopped, and held the jar in front of him. Bernkastel watched in interest.

Will opened the lid and let the ashes inside tumble out. They melted into the sea and were gone in seconds.

'Whose ashes were that?' Bernkastel said, although she already knew the answer.

Will answered, not for Bernkastel, but for his former opponent. 'It's her's.'

Together they watched the ashes drift into the endless lakes of Oblivion.

* * *

><p>The bell rang, jolting him out of his reverie. He had been been daydreaming. But he didn't mind the sudden interruption. As he watched the girls stream out of the school, his eyes searching for the one among them that mattered, he felt that he preferred reality to dreams, after all. For what dream could possibly replicate her smile, when they finally locked gazes amidst the roaring crowd?<p>

She bounced over to him, her blue hair flying about her like a halo. 'Ronoue!'

'Hey,' he smiled. She crashed into him and wrapped him in a hug.

'You came - why?'

'I had a day off today, so, uh, I just came to see you,' he attempted a causal shrug. 'The school was on the way.'

'Thanks anyway,' she said. 'Hey, want some ice cream!'

'Sure.'

As he paid for two dripping cones of vanilla cone, he felt something he hadn't felt when he was out at work - he felt at peace. He felt the familial wafer shape against his hand, the same shape he had enjoyed so often as a child, and he felt warm. Coming here was a good idea after all. He handed one ofr her and she started licking rapidly.

'Wanna piggyback?' she said.

'Are you crazy?' he couldn't help laughing. 'That's tons of people here.'

'Come on, it's not often that I get to see you! Just piggyback, just this once, I won't ask again.'

'Alright, alright,' he bent down and she hopped on top of him, still holding the ice cream. He stood tall and walked, allowing everyone in the world to see what an amazing big brother she had.

This...was wonderful. For a moment, he was able to forget. Everything, the drugs, the knives, the shipments - everything that had plagued this country since the day his family had settled here, all of it magically retreated back into the shadows. Today, the day was her's. His and her's.

'Hey,' he whispered to her.

'Wharuul - ?' she murmured in mid-lick.

'I don't know what I'd do without you, okay?'


End file.
